Will B.C. follow Ontario with tuition changes?

The Ontario provincial government revamped its post-secondary student aid in its budget yesterday, so that many students won’t pay tuition.
No new funding is planned for the program, which is a consolidation of different funding streams into one grant program — the Ontario Student Grant — which will be calculated up front before students pay tuition. Students will see a bill that shows them the tuition cost minus the grant, which, when parents have incomes below $50,000, will make the total payable  either zero or a negative number.
What happens now, for the most  part, is that students pay tuition up front and get loans,  grants and tax credits that kick in later.
Provincial tax credits for tuition and education are being eliminated at the same time.
There has been no word of any similar consolidation in B.C., but a report by Higher Education Strategy Associates, done in 2014, shows that the net cost of education in B.C. is about average for the country and that for low-income people tuition is often also “free” when considered for its net cost.
The net cost, according to this report, is calculated by taking the sticker price of a program, and subtracting any grants, loan relief and money gained by tax credits.
This report shows that B.C. could switch to a similar net-tuition funding program, without having to put any more  money into the system.
While I haven’t given Ontario’s new system an in-depth analysis, at a glance, it appears that a streamlined system such as this could make it much easier for low-income students to access post-secondary education and training.

tsherlock@vancouversun.com