NDP Criticizing Cuts To Low-Income Student Grants

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A number of post-secondary students in Alberta received letters last week about reduced grant funding under the Alberta Student Grant for Full Time Students.

That has drawn criticism from the NDP opposition with Advanced Education Critic David Eggen calling it especially concerning at a time when costs for many other things are rising.

“This grant is targeted for lower income, these are people that are already probably in a precarious situation, but we still need people to go to school. If we have students dropping out because their grant level has been dropped, money being cut by maybe $100-$250 a month, it might not seem like much to some people, but for others it’s the difference between going to school and not going to school.”

Money students can get from that was reduced by 30% and the eligibility for it was also narrowed.

Eggen says it will make it harder for students to get into colleges and universities.

“Every time you have an increase in tuition, every time you see this UCP government going after grant applications, that means some people simply can’t go. They won’t be able to go to school, they lose that window of opportunity, they suffer and we all suffer as a result too. Alberta has one of the youngest populations in Canada, and we need them to go to school and set up roots here in the province.”

We talked to Eggen on the Trending 55 Hot Seat, that full discussion can be found below.

– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom