Post-secondary education needs to change, but not in the way Tim Hudak is suggesting.

Hudak, who is the Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, recently presented his party’s vision for improving higher education in Paths to Prosperity: Higher Learning for Better Jobs.

Recommendations of the policy paper include encouraging more students to look at college instead of university programs, and tying student loans to marks.

The push towards getting more students enrolled in colleges may be necessary, but tying student loans to academic performance absolutely isn’t.

It’s clear that the ideological framework for understanding post-secondary education is flawed. From an early age, we are told that smart people go to university and the rest go to college.

As the paper has rightly identified, this has led to a swell of incoming university students. Conversely, it’s also led to the creation of a ‘knowledge economy’ where these students are over-educated yet under-employed upon graduation.

If more students were convinced to go to college, many of these students might find themselves in jobs more suited to their skillset, strengthening the labour force.

While focusing on college might be advantageous to Canada’s job market, Hudak’s view on student loans is ridiculous.

The suggestion to tie loans to marks disregards the needs of many of the students receiving loans from the Ontario Student Assistance Plan. There are many factors that can contribute to someone’s poor performance in school, such as the stress and time-commitment of working part-time jobs to support the cost of education.

If carried out, Hudak’s suggestion would unfairly punish those from lower income brackets who need the loans to stay in school. Wealthier students who didn’t require loans wouldn’t be required to maintain high academic standing.

This suggestion makes it clear that Hudak views the university as a business first, then as an educational institution. Financial accessibility is clearly not a concern.

Hudak and his government need to rethink their priorities. Post-secondary education should be about both quality and the economy.

— Journal Editorial Board