ON government axes free tuition for low-income students, reduces overall tuition, mandatory fees

The Progressive Conservative Ontario government says that it is eliminating a free tuition program introduced by the previously governing Liberals and will replace it with a grant-and-loan system, reports the Toronto Star. Earlier this week, the government also announced that it would reduce tuition fees at the province’s post-secondary institutions by 10%, adding that the schools would need to absorb the loss in revenue from these changes. The government has also announced that many student fees, such as those that support on-campus clubs and societies, will no longer be mandatory. Critics say that the changes will disproportionately benefit students from wealthy families, while the PCs argue that by reducing the ceiling of student aid eligibility from a family income of $175K to $140K, their plan will better support low-income students. CBC | Toronto Star (ON)