Assistance plans should only be used to deliver accessibility. Millions of public dollars are spent with no accountability. Further to measuring accessibility, our student assistance plan should work towards a clear articulation of why those students choose not to participate. Debt level is often indicated as a greater barrier than tuition. Yet, people take on higher debt for houses than they do education.
Studies examining rates of return indicate that individual investment in education is a wise choice.
Such studies, however, assume that students have perfect knowledge. A student assistance plan cannot underestimate the impact of risk- averse cultures. Greater efforts towards educating potential students would yield significant results. If we more clearly understand the barriers much needed reforms to student aid can be closely targeted at areas of high need. Both the current provincial and federal programs are incapable of providing access for many students.