Tuition Hike Would Break Liberal Election Promise: OCUFA Poll
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Ontarians Want Their Liberal Government To Keep Election Promise On Education
A poll released today finds that a whopping 81 per cent of Ontarians would view the Liberal government as breaking a key election promise if it significantly raises tuition fees following a two-year freeze.
The poll, commissioned by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and released at its annual conference on university education, shows the province’s current tuition freeze is not enough to allay public fears that university is becoming unaffordable.
“The findings are consistent with previous polls that indicate Ontarians are most concerned about being able to afford university tuition fees,” said Andre Turcotte of Feedback Research Corporation. “What’s interesting about this year’s findings is that the current tuition freeze hasn’t watered down those fears.”
The majority of respondents say affordability is their top concern: 65 per cent feel tuition is too high. Sixty-eight per cent worry young Ontarians will not be able to attend university even if they are qualified; and of those, about half attribute the problem to higher tuition fees.
The poll shows 92 per cent agree with the Ontario government’s decision to freeze university tuition fees and 81 per cent believe the government would be breaking the spirit of its 2003 election promise if it chases a tuition freeze with a significant tuition hike.
“What’s clear to us from this poll is that Ontarians are looking to their provincial government to step up to the plate and resolve the affordability problem,” said OCUFA President Michael Doucet. “More than half of respondents feel the university system is underfunded and that responsibility to fix the problem lies at the feet of the Ontario government.”
The poll was conducted January 4-11, 2005. It consisted of interviews with 1,000 adult Ontarians. Margin of error is +/- 3.1 per cent, with a confidence interval of 95 per cent.
@ January 21, 2005