VICTORIA—Thousands more British Columbians signed the petition to reduce student debt over the last two weeks as the Education Shouldn’t be a Debt Sentence tour hit campuses across Vancouver Island. Organized by the Canadian Federation of Students-BC, the tour wrapped up on the Island with an event at Camosun College today, and will be moving onto campuses in northern BC next week.

“BC families are suffering as record high tuition fees have led to record high student debt,” said CFS-BC Chairperson Shamus Reid. “This tour is giving voice to the thousands of British Columbians who need a commitment from the BC government to reduce student debt.”

Playing host to the campaign tour, students’ unions at North Island College, Vancouver Island University, the University of Victoria, and Camosun College held free lunches with live music, and gathered signatures on the petition at the Lansdowne campus today. Students could also send a direct message to the Minister of Advanced Education through the campaign website, www.debtsentence.ca.

"For far too many Camosun College students, education is a debt sentence," said Reid. “We are calling on Vancouver Island MLAs to stand up for their constituents.”

Tuition fees have more than doubled in BC since 2001 as per-student funding has been cut. The elimination of the BC grants program in 2004 accelerated student debt accumulation to the point where average debt upon the graduation of a four-year program now exceeds $27,000. Meanwhile, BC has the highest interest rates in the country on its student loans. The CFS-BC's campaign calls for the BC government to: 

• reduce tuition fees;
• re-establish a grants program;
• eliminate interest on student loans; and 
• restore funding to universities and colleges.

The Canadian Federation of Students-British Columbia is BC’s provincial student organization, representing 150,000 university and college students at all levels of post-secondary education in BC. It is non-partisan and affiliated with Canada’s largest national student organization, the Canadian Federation of Students.

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