{"id":37831,"date":"2016-02-26T16:53:59","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T20:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=37831"},"modified":"2016-02-26T16:53:59","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T20:53:59","slug":"brock-students-respond-to-budget-announcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/02\/brock-students-respond-to-budget-announcements\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock students respond to budget announcements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock University students welcomed news of the Ontario government\u2019s budget promise to revamp tuition grants and cover the cost of tuition for students from households making less than $50,000 per year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis way I think everyone will have access to education,\u201d said second-year computer science student Shahriar Soudian. \u201cPost-secondary education will be easier to get than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he said making school more affordable shouldn\u2019t make it less competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as the academic standards remain, it\u2019s a huge help for students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While he wouldn\u2019t qualify for the Ontario Student Grant announced Thursday, he knows many people who would. He said some of his friends would be able to focus on school rather than working to help pay for their education.<\/p>\n

First-year nursing student Shaylea Moschella, of Fort Erie, is paying for her schooling with the help of the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). She plans to look into whether she would qualify for the new grant program, which is slated for implementation in the 2017-18 school year.<\/p>\n

If she isn\u2019t, she said she\u2019s still happy it will exist for students from low-income families.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though they may not have the money, it doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t have the grades and ambition to go to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Emer Ferguson, a second-year psychology student, likes the budget promise but questions where the money will come from.<\/p>\n

She hopes it doesn\u2019t impact the funding available to students from higher-income families, noting her parents are helping pay for post-secondary education for her and her sibling.<\/p>\n

Fellow psychology student Rachel Riediger wants to hear more details about the budget promise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t very specific. The announcement was really vague and broad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Council of Ontario Universities applauded the budget measure and said the changes will result in easier access to aid, more grants for the students who need it most, and more assistance in both grants and loans to students from middle-income families. It said the changes will also mean that in time, students will receive assistance at registration instead of having to pay full tuition up-front and wait to be reimbursed.<\/p>\n

Another budget announcement that will impact students at Brock was news that the province hopes to extend GO train service into Niagara.<\/p>\n

Bishouy Elmenshawy, a first-year general science student, commutes daily from Hamilton and said he would rather be taking the GO train than driving.
\n\u201cIt will help the whole region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Erin Scattolon, a first-year nursing student from Burlington, said having GO train service in St. Catharines would make it easier for her to visit family on the weekends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will definitely be more convenient for people living here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kylee Slade, a second-year psychology student, said saving gas money and avoiding the QEW traffic would have her utilizing GO service.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be able to have that option,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Riediger, who is in a co-op stream, said if GO train service was in Niagara there would be more opportunities for her when it comes to placements.<\/p>\n

Many of the co-ops are in the GTA, which can be a barrier for some students, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock University students welcomed news of the Ontario government\u2019s budget promise to revamp tuition grants and cover the cost of tuition for students from households making less than $50,000 per year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":37832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,1],"tags":[2943,3858,3859],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37831"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37835,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37831\/revisions\/37835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}