new articles on the Student Loans Program

Delayed reports from and service snafus to blame

The latest annual report still hasn’t been posted online — and it’s for 2004-05.

Accountability delays are among myriad problems federal officials are being pressed to fix as critics demand the overhaul of a widely maligned program.

Leesha Lin, acting director of operational policy and research for the Canada Student Loans Program, concedes it shouldn’t take more than two years to complete an annual report.

The complex document compiles reams of far-flung statistics and was finally tabled last month, she said in an interview.

It still hasn’t been translated for the department’s website, but should be online this week if all goes well.

“We’re concerned,” Lin said of the reporting delay. “Our department is working on trying to improve that.”

About 350,000 college and university students relied last year on federal loans worth $1.9 billion.

Those who study for four years will rack up debts worth an average of $20,000.

The cost is much higher when you factor in punishing federal interest rates.

Ottawa charges prime plus 2.5 per cent for variable rates or prime plus five for a fixed rate — much higher than the cost of most commercial loans.

Bankruptcy

Former students can’t declare bankruptcy on that cash for at least 10 years after studies cease.

And a bureaucratic labyrinth awaits those who fail to turn liberal arts degrees into high-paying jobs or otherwise fall behind on payments due after graduation.

Whole websites are devoted to teeth-grinding tales of official indifference, lost paperwork, battered credit ratings and monumental frustration.

The Conservative federal budget last March said it had launched a review of the student loan program “aimed at modernizing and simplifying this important student financial assistance program.”

Two months later, Lin says the review hasn’t actually begun and she’s not sure when it will.

Nor is there a timeline for related recommendations or action plans.

“The details are still being worked out.”

Julian Benedict helped found the new national Coalition for Student Loan Fairness to push for changes to a system he says is broken.

Among his top targets: High interest rates, stingy interest-relief and debt-reduction programs, the lack of an effective ombudsman, and bureaucratic bungling of loan accounts.

He’s not convinced, however, that real change is on the way.

Can't save for retirement

“I think the government is unprepared to deal with the criticism that this program rightfully should bring upon them,” Benedict said from Vancouver.

“It’s simply not meeting the needs of Canadians in a workforce that requires higher and higher levels of education.

“We’re going to have a generation of Canadians who aren’t able to save for retirement because they’re paying student loans. They can’t set up new businesses or get mortgages.

“People can’t even think about starting a family. They’re holding off on having kids because they can’t afford it.”

Ivan Basnicki finished a college degree in 1999 and hoped to get a job managing a museum collection. He chased one contract after another but never found full-time work.

He owed $21,000 and was struggling with monthly payments when he applied for interest relief.

Basnicki says it got lost either en route or in the system.

“I only found out about it when they told me I owed $700.”

The upfront payment, which he didn’t have, was due before Basnicki could even reapply for interest relief, he said.

Help for those in trouble

Eighty per cent of students repay their loans on time and in full, according to government estimates.

But there should be some slack cut for the minority of debtors who run into trouble, Basnicki says.

Repayment “should be based on a percentage of how much you’re making per month,” he said. “And it should be in relation to reasonable living expenses as well.”

Basnicki, who started driving trucks to make better money, has little left each month after paying his loan, rent, food and bills, he said.

“And I don’t have a car payment. I don’t own anything.”

Lin of the Canada Student Loans Program acknowledged the struggle some students face, and said there have been recent improvements to communications, “interest and debt relief programs.

“We’re listening,” she said. “Because we care and we want to improve service and know all these issues.”