By Dale Miller
A new survey shows that students have debt, and lots of it.
On Mar. 10, 2003, The Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation released "Making Ends Meet: The 2001–2002 Student Financial Survey," which suggests that students are having a tough time with their debt loads.
A key funding of the survey is that students incur an average debt of $5,600 per year, accumulating to over $20,000 total for some students. On average $13,000 is owed to the government, with the remainder owed to private benefactors.
"It’s absolutely critical that governments address this problem of increasing student debt and not only recognize student needs but act on it," said Erin Stevenson, communications officer for the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations. "This study demonstrates problems with student loan policies."
Since a single source of income is rarely enough to cover costs, students are forced to utilize multiple sources of income in order to just get by, often in a meager existence-though not too meager since an astonishing 41 per cent of students manage to own cars.
"The study further illustrates the rising financial barriers to secondary education that students face today," said Students’ Union President Matt Stambaugh. "I look forward to working with our federal lobby group to affect changes to the Canada Student Loan Program for the benefit of students."