B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix promised College of New Caledonia (CNC) students non-refundable student grants will be brought back and a "minimum tax" on banks will be reinstated if the party is elected the next government.
It would be a reversal of actions taken by the B.C. Liberal government, which eliminated direct students grants in 2004 and eliminated the tax at about the same time, according to Dix.
"It would make it just a little bit easier for people to get the education they want," Dix said.
The grant program cost about $100 million at the time it was eliminated and Dix said the tax on banks would raise $130 million.
"When you spend money, I think it's also fair to say how you're going to pay for it," Dix said.
Students graduate with an average debt of $27,000 and pay the highest interest rate in the country, according to Dix.
"We need to bring a little bit of balance, I think, to post-secondary education," Dix said.
Advanced education minister Naomi Yamamoto said B.C.'s tuition fees cover about one-third of a student's annual education costs and are the fourth lowest in Canada thanks to a two-per-cent cap on increases.
Yamamoto conceded that B.C. students face the highest interest rate but added students who've earned qualifications in areas where there is a skills shortage and take jobs in high-demand regions will see one-third of their loan forgiven for each of three years they remain in the area. That adds up to $46 million a year, she added.
Yamamoto accused Dix of being vague on the details surround the tax on banks but if it's a corporate capital tax, it's "punitive."
"At a time when we want to encourage investment in B.C., that is simply going to drive investment out of this province," Yamamoto said. "We saw it happen in the 1990s, we saw more than 50,000 people leave this province and we saw this province become a have-not province and this is the same type of policy that's going to create that condition again."
In setting the 2011-12 budget in March, CNC's board of governors refrained from increasing tuition fees so that the cost for five, first-year university transfer courses is about $2,800, making it the least expensive rural college in the province.
At the University of Northern British Columbia, where tuition was increased three per cent, so that a full-time undergraduate student pays $4,629 per year.
There is $100 million available for grants through the federal government.
About 90 students gathered at the CNC atrium to hear Dix and enjoy free pizza offered by the college's students union.
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