More of Martin's Mad Money

So Paul Martin now thinks it's a good idea to give taxpayer dollars to post secondary students by paying half their tuition in their first and last year's. This is ridiculous policy and bad politics. First of all, the demographic this is aimed at is traditionally among the lowest in voter turnout. Also, if you adjust for inflation, university tuition is less expensive now than it was in the 40's and 50's and the percentage of the population enrolled has increased. Study after study has also shown that the cost of education is not a barrier to attaining post secondary education. In my opinion the two biggest barriers are people not having the marks to get in and people's own expectations. A lot of people either don't believe university is worthwhile (and it is not the be all and end all by any means) so they don't go even if they could, or they choose to do go into a career that doesn't require a degree. On top of that we still have about a 40% dropout rate for first year students. In other words, you and I are going to be paying for Jimmy and Suzie to get drunk, skip class, screw each other and flunk out. How does that make us more competitive? It doesn't.

If we are to be more competitive we need to make it more attractive for the private sector to help contribute to post secondary programs in the sciences and R&D. Special tax breaks could be set up for equipment or funds given or donated, and more emphasis should be put on coop programs. Most of the people I know who had coop placements ended up getting full time employment with the employer directly after graduation.

Look, there is no shame in being a starving student. I busted my ass in the summers working as a carnie to put myself through university debt free, and I had roommates who worked 70 hours a week in sweatshop factories and dug gas lines in 35 degree heat all summer to do the same. Would we do it all over again? Hell yes. It taught us to be self reliant and to understand the financial difference between wants and needs. It is commonally estimated that a post secondary diploma or degree is worth at least an extra $500,000 in career earnings. Would you spend 60K for an education knowing you would get a 500K return? Of course you would. Finally, the person who benefits most from your education is you, therefore you should be expected to pay for the bulk of it, not other people.