Local college students the focus of RDC study on student debt and financial wellness.

Duane Rolheiser

Published

6 years ago

5 minute read

Student Debt & Financial Wellness

By Jason Engel and Doug MacDormand

A recent poll completed by Ipsos for BDO Canada showed that over three quarters of post-secondary students regret the amount of debt they accumulate while in school. There is certainly a lot of discussion about the financial burden facing students in post-secondary education, and how financially literate and financially well students are. With this in mind a group of students at Red Deer College completed a study on student debt and financial wellness.

With debt a concern amongst post-secondary students, it is not surprising to find that the largest portion of their education funding (33%) comes from student loans. The second largest (23%) comes from parents or family, followed by work (19%). With debt loads continuing to rise amongst students, this is a source of considerable concern. Just over half of students reported using student loans. Of those, over 40% expect to have a student debt load of over $30,000 upon graduation. 70% reported they expect over $20,000 in debt. A $30,000 student debt would equate to a monthly payment of roughly $375 over ten years, depending upon the interest rate. Statistics Canada reports that the average student debt in Canada is $26,000, so these expectations would seem to accurately reflect reality.

Where funding comes from: 33% student loans 23% parents / family 19% working

The vast majority (81%) have a credit card. 59% pay it in full every month, which is slightly higher than the overall population. It is encouraging that students are improving on their parents’ record of financial management. Of those that have a balance, they tend to be lower, with over 80% having a balance under $2,500. This would be lower than the general population, though this would likely be restricted by the limits that lenders would allow for students. Students feel pretty good about their savings habits and credit card management. Just over half reported that they are good or very good at saving for the future. Two-thirds reported they are good or very good at managing their credit card.

81% of students have a credit card. 59% of cc holders pay entire balance every month.

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of students work, with only just under one quarter (24%) reporting that they do not. Just over one half (52%) work part time. When it comes to transportation, the vast majority (76%) drive to school and work. The largest segment (41%) lives with parents or family, while the next largest rent (34%).

Other financial factors: 52% of RDC students have a part time job. 76% drive to school. 41% live at home. 34% rent.

For financial advice, students tend to go to family first, rely on themselves second and the internet third. This has interesting implications for financial advisors, in particular in light of recent developments around robo advisors.

The Donald School of Business, Red Deer College strives to bring practical, real world learning experiences to the classroom. Every year business degree students complete statistical studies on various topics. These studies are completed for a client, such as a local business or non-profit organization. This year, one group chose as their topic the financial wellness of students.

The students that completed the study are Alexander Abuzidan, Malika Khanjer, Jameica Miller, Amanda Tuccaro, Sangita Pandey and Morgan Vandenhoven. 200 Red Deer College students were surveyed during March of 2018. These survey findings are accurate with a 7% margin of error, 19 times in 20.

Red Deer College is a comprehensive community college serving learners in central Alberta with a variety of certificates, diplomas, collaborative degrees, trades, and continuing education. The Alberta government recently announced that RDC will be pursuing university status. Jason Engel and Doug MacDormand are instructors in the Donald School of Business, Red Deer College.

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Duane Rolheiser

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Education

Parents should oppose any plans to replace the ABCs with vague terminology in schools

Published on January 2, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Paige MacPherson

According to a recent poll, the vast majority of parents in Canada easily understand letter grades on report cards but are confused by the nouveau “descriptive” grading adopted in British Columbia. This should serve as a warning to any province or school board thinking about adopting this type of convoluted descriptive grading.

In September 2023, despite overwhelming opposition from British Columbians, the B.C. government replaced letter grades—such as A, B, C, D, etc.—on K-9 report cards with a “proficiency scale,” which includes the descriptive terms “emerging,” “developing,” “proficient” and “extending.” If these four terms seem confusing to you, you’re not alone.

According to the recent poll (conducted by Leger and commissioned by the Fraser Institute), 93 per cent of Canadian parents from coast to coast said the letter grade “A” was “clear and easy” to understand while 83 per cent said the letter grade “C” was “clear and easy” to understand. (For the sake of brevity, the poll only asked respondents about these two letter grades.)

By contrast, 58 per cent of Canadian parents said the descriptive grade “extending” was “unclear and difficult” to understand and only 26 per cent could correctly identify what “extending” means on a report card.

It was a similar story for the descriptive grade “emerging,” as 57 per cent of Canadian parents said the term was “unclear and difficult” to understand and only 28 per cent could correctly identify what “emerging” means on a report card.

It’s also worth noting that the poll simplified the definitions of the four “descriptive” grading terms. The B.C. government’s official definitions, which can be found on the government’s website, speak for themselves. For example: “Extending is not synonymous with perfection. A student is Extending when they demonstrate learning, in relation to learning standards, with increasing depth and complexity. Extending is not a bonus or a reward and does not necessarily require that students do a greater volume of work or work at a higher grade level. Extending is not the goal for all students; Proficient is. Therefore, if a student turns in all their work and demonstrates evidence of learning in all learning standards for an area of learning, they are not automatically assigned Extending.”

So, what are the consequences of this confusing gobbledygook? Well, we already have some anecdotes.

Before the B.C. government made the changes provincewide, the Surrey School District participated in a pilot program to gauge the effectiveness of descriptive grading. According to Elenore Sturko, a Conservative MLA in Surrey and mother of three, for three years her daughter’s report cards said she was “emerging” rather than clearly stating she was failing. Sturko was unaware there was a problem until the child’s Third Grade teacher called to tell Sturko that her daughter was reading at a Kindergarten level.

Former B.C. education minister Rachna Singh tried to justify the change saying descriptive grading would help students become “better prepared for the outside world” where you “don’t get feedback in letters.” But parents in B.C. clearly aren’t happy.

Of course, other provinces also use terms in their grading systems (meeting expectations, exceeding expectations, satisfactory, needs improvement, etc.) in addition to letter grades. But based on this polling data, the descriptive grading now used in B.C.—which again, has completely replaced letter grades—makes it much harder for B.C. parents to understand how their children are doing in school. The B.C. government should take a red pen to this confusing new policy before it does any more damage. And parents across the country should keep a watchful eye on their local school boards for any plans to replace the ABCs with vague terminology open to interpretation.

Alberta

Parents in every province—not just Alberta—deserve as much school choice as possible

Published on December 3, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Michael Zwaagstra

Not only does Alberta have a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, it also provides between 60 and 70 per cent operational funding to accredited independent schools. In addition, Alberta is the only province in Canada to allow fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents.

This week, the Smith government in Alberta will likely pass Bill 27, which requires schools to get signed permission from parents or guardians prior to any lessons on human sexuality, gender identity or sexual orientation.

It’s a sensible move. The government is proactively ensuring that students are in these classes because their parents want them there. Given the sensitive nature of these topics, for everyone’s sake it makes sense to ensure parental buy-in at the outset.

Unfortunately, many school trustees don’t agree. A recent resolution passed by the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) calls on the Smith government to maintain the status quo where parents are assumed to have opted in to these lessons unless they contact the school and opt their children out. Apparently, the ASBA thinks parents can’t be trusted to make the right decisions for their children on this issue.

This ASBA resolution is, in fact, a good example of the reflexive opposition by government school trustees to parental rights. They don’t want parents to take control of their children’s education, especially in sensitive areas. Fortunately, the Alberta government rebuffed ASBA’s demands and this attempt to abolish Bill 27 will likely fall on deaf ears.

However, there’s an even better safeguard available to Alberta parents—school choice. Out of all Canadian provinces, Alberta offers the most school choice. Not only does Alberta have a fully funded separate (Catholic) school system, it also provides between 60 and 70 per cent operational funding to accredited independent schools. In addition, Alberta is the only province in Canada to allow fully funded charter schools. And Alberta subsidizes homeschooling parents. Simply put, parents who are dissatisfied with the government school system have plenty of options—more than parents in any other province. This means Alberta parents can vote with their feet.

Things are quite different in other parts of the country. For example, Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces do not allow any provincial funding to follow students to independent schools. In other words, parents in these provinces who choose an independent school must pay the full cost themselves—while still paying taxes that fund government schools. And no province other than Alberta allows charter schools.

This is why it’s important to give parents as much school choice as possible. Given the tendency of government school boards to remove choices from parents, it’s important that all parents, including those with limited means, have other options available for their children.

Imagine if the owners of a large grocery store tried to impose their dietary preferences by removing all meat products and telling customers that the only way they could purchase meat is to make a special order. What would happen in that scenario? It depends on what other options are available. If this was the only grocery store in the community, customers would have no choice but to comply. However, if there were other stores, customers could simply shop elsewhere. Choice empowers people and limits the ability of one company to limit the choices of people who live in the community.

Think of government school boards as a monopolistic service provider like a grocery store. They often do everything possible to prevent parents from going anywhere else for their children’s education. Trusting them to do what’s best for parents and children is like assuming that the owners of a grocery store would always put the interests of their customers first and not their own self-interest. Monopolies are bad in the private sector and they’re bad in the education sector, too.

Clearly, it makes sense to require schools to get proactive consent from parents. This ensures maximum buy-in from parents for whatever courses their children take. It’s also important that Alberta remains a bastion of school choice. By making it easier for parents to choose from a variety of education options, Alberta puts power in the hands of parents, exactly where it belongs. Parents in other provinces should want that same power, too.