POLICY PAPER

Aboriginal Students

Prepared by: Huzaifa Saeed, Vice-President (Education)12/13 McMaster Students Union With files from: Alexander Burnett, MSU Research Assistant 13

Introduction The current climate of Aboriginal students and post-secondary education has been negatively influenced by a complex history covering issues of culture and socioeconomic factors. This has lead Aboriginal people to have lower levels of representation within post-secondary institutions. Universities must proactively reach out to Aboriginal students to bridge divides that have been created through a multitude of systemic discriminations. Accessibility for Aboriginal students is of utmost importance with Aboriginal issues experiencing particular focus at this time. The McMaster Students Union advocates that federal and provincial governments must develop proactive initiatives to increase the presence of Aboriginal students in higher education in order to deconstruct past barriers. There are several barriers identified by sector stakeholders and most notably in the work conducted by our partners Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and Canadian Alliance of Student Associations over the past few years. Therefore, this paper is admittedly intentionally designed to not be an exhaustive look into the various complicated socioeconomic and historical factors on this issue since through its membership within the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance as well as Canadian Alliance of Student Association; the McMaster Students Union indirectly is represented by more comprehensive policy papers. Instead, it is part of a series of policy papers that are being authored by the MSU to reflect our position on pressing Post-Secondary educational matters as an independent Students Union. The research is largely sourced from secondary reports and reports, two focus groups (2010 & 2011) attended by Aboriginal Students hosted by OUSA at McMaster University and a consultation with staff at the Indigenous studies office in January 2013 Context In 1952 only two Aboriginal students were attending university in all of Canada. By 1969 this number had risen to a mere 100 Aboriginal students. Today it is estimated that there are nearly 30,000 Aboriginal students in university in Canada, with nearly half in Ontario. 1 Despite this dramatic increase in university enrolment, Aboriginal people are still far less likely to enrol in post-secondary education (PSE) than nonAboriginal individuals. In Ontario, recent data suggests the university attainment gap among 24 to 26 year olds is 28 per cent. 2 The ramifications of this gap are considerable. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples estimated that Aboriginal poverty will cost Canada $11 billion per year by 2016, which is double the cost of services and programs reaching First Nations communities. 3 Compared to nonAboriginal Ontarians, Aboriginal individuals have lower life expectancies, higher incarceration rates, are more likely to live in poverty, and are more likely to be unemployed. The low participation rate of Aboriginal peoples in post-secondary education stems from a complex interaction of historical, cultural and socio-economic factors.

1The

Aboriginal Institutes Consortium. (2005). A struggle for the education of Aboriginal students, control of Indigenous Knowledge and recognition of Aboriginal institutions: An examination of government policy. Ohsweken, ON: Canada Race Relations Foundation. 2 Finnie, R., Childs, S., & Wismer, A. (2011). Under-Represented Groups in Postsecondary Education in Ontario: Evidence from the Youth in Transition Survey. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. 3 Government of Canada. (1996). Highlights from the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Principle One: All willing and qualified students in Ontario must be able to access and excel within Ontarios post-secondary education system. All willing and qualified students in Ontario must be able to access and excel within Ontarios post-secondary system, regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic circumstances, geographic location, or any other external factor. Students recognize the advantage of higher education from both a social and economic perspective. The societal benefits of a highly educated population serve to relieve the poverty cycle, reduce crime rates, and increase civic participation and engagement with social affairs.4 Aside from the notion that all students should have an equal opportunity to access higher education, the economic need to engage underrepresented groups in PSE is clear. In economic terms, the oft-quoted statistic is that 70 per cent of jobs require some form of post-secondary education or training.5 While participation in PSE has been increasing steadily over the last decade, participation rates some groups that have been traditionally underrepresented, including Aboriginal students, have not kept pace. Aboriginal peoples in Ontario tend to occupy a marginalized position. Due to a history of injustice, they have lower incomes that non-Aboriginal families, a higher incidence of suicide, are more likely to be incarcerated, and have life expectancies that are eight to ten years lower than those of non-Aboriginal Ontarians.6 Evidence suggests that successful completion of post-secondary education can help close the earnings gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginals because the gap between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal unemployment ratesdeclines with education until there is little difference among those with a university degree.7 That all willing and qualified Aboriginal students can access and excel in Ontarios post-secondary system is particularly important given that many Aboriginal communities face skilled-labour shortages in a number of fields crucial for community development and self governance, including education, medical fields, and environmental sciences. Principle Two: Aboriginal students face unique historical and cultural barriers to participation in higher education. While some barriers that Aboriginal students face in accessing post-secondary education are shared with other groups, like low-income and rural and northern students, it is important to recognize that Aboriginal students also face unique historical and cultural barriers to participation in higher education. Education was one of the major means through which European settlers attempted to assimilate Aboriginal peoples. The residential school system was intended remove students from their parents, and communities, to prevent the transmission of Indigenous knowledge and language from generation to generation. Historically, urban and rural Aboriginal students attending provincially-funded schools have had to contend with Eurocentric curriculum that ignored Aboriginal issues. Similarly, Aboriginal students attending accredited post-secondary institutions have faced a hostile, culturally insensitive curriculum and system, which has not recognized Aboriginal cultural values and contributions to contemporary societies. Even more disturbing, up until 1960, any Aboriginal person who earned a post-secondary credential was automatically
TD Economics. (2004). Investing in higher education delivers a stellar rate of return. Toronto: TD Economics. Ontario Ministry of Finance. (2010). Post-secondary Education, 2010 Ontario Budget. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Finance. 6 Holmes, David. (2006). Redressing the Balance: Canadian University Programs in Support of Aboriginal Students. Ottawa: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. 7 Hull, Jeremy. (2005). Postsecondary education and labour market outcomes, Canada, 2001. Winnipeg: Prologica Research.
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enfranchised as well, as recognition of their integration into Euro-Canadian society.8 Higher education was then directly associated with assimilation, through the both Eurocentric curriculum content and the loss of Aboriginal status under the law. This legacy has led to a multitude of social problems in Aboriginal communities, and created an atmosphere of distrust regarding education between Aboriginal peoples and provincial and federal governments. Principle Three: Both the provincial and federal governments hold responsibility for providing Aboriginal communities with improved access to post-secondary education. Both the federal and provincial governments have articulated a responsibility for improving access to post-secondary education for all Aboriginal students. In January 2007, the Ontario government directly acknowledged this responsibility, launching a new Aboriginal Education Strategy stating that it was committed to providing accessible, high-quality education and training opportunities to Aboriginal peoples at all levels of learning. 9 Many Aboriginal groups believe that a fair interpretation of treaty rights obliges the federal government to fund post-secondary education in the same way that it funds primary and secondary school for status-First Nations and Inuit students.10 The federal government disagrees with this view, but at the same time has taken responsibility for some funding of post-secondary education for Aboriginal students, through the creation of the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) and Indian Studies Support Program (ISSP). While it is beyond the scope of this policy to judge whether a fair treaty interpretation mandates the full federal funding of post-secondary education for Aboriginal students, students believe that all youth in Ontario should have an equitable opportunity to attend postsecondary institutions. In recognition of the historical and contemporary injustices Aboriginal people face in Ontario, both the provincial and federal government have a responsibility to improve access to post-secondary education for Aboriginal students. Financial Resources The fastest growing population segment in Canada is Aboriginal youth, those between the ages of 15 and 3011. In fact, between 1996 and 2006, Canadas Aboriginal population grew nearly six times faster than the non-Aboriginal population12. It is crucial to support this young and growing community, which has the potential to address current and future labour gaps. Despite growing costs for accessing PSE, the supply of financial resources from the government has not reflected this, specifically for Aboriginal people. The PostSecondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), utilized as the dominant funding method for many Aboriginal students, has been capped at a annual 2% increase since 1996. This has forced a small pool of money to be spread thin among a growing population amidst growing costs for education.
The Aboriginal Institutes Consortium. (2005). A struggle for the education of Aboriginal students, control of Indigenous Knowledge and recognition of Aboriginal institutions: An examination of government policy. Ohsweken, ON: Canada Race Relations Foundation. 9 Ontario Ministry of Education. (2009). Backgrounder: Aboriginal education in Ontario. Toronto: Government of Ontario. 10 Report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. (2007). No higher priority Aboriginal post-secondary education in Canada. Ottawa: Communication Canada-Publishing.
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HumanResources and Skills Development Canada. Aboriginal Youth Initiatives. Accessed online: www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/ employment/aboriginal_employment/youth/index.shtml. January 25th, 2013.
12 Statistics Canada, Industry Canada. Extract from the Census of Population. Accessed online: www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb--

bmdi/ 3901--eng.htm. January 17, 2013.

Those who receive funding from the program now have the highest graduation rates than at any point in the history of the PSSSP. The program has increased success rates for those who have been able to access funding. In 2008/2009 a higher proportion of funding recipients graduated than any time since the inception of the program. Regretfully, due to growing demand and increased costs, the 2% funding cap placed on the program has been outstripped and qualified students are being turned away. From 1997 to 2009 recipients of PSSSP dropped from 22,939 to 18,72913. This figure can be attributed to rising costs not being matched with increased program funding, fewer students are accessing these funds to go to school than over a decade ago. This is clearly posing as a major barrier for a fair PostSecondary Education that the MSU believes in. This practice is also a major issue for both current and potential McMaster students who rely on PSSP funding, as stated by staff members in the Indigenous Students department at McMaster, since Band Councils only get a limited and fixed pool of money, any new applicants have to wait till a previous batch has graduated before they can expect to receive any funding. Similarly, many current students might find their funding cut in order to accommodate a new student who also needs funding. This limitation of funding also forces band councils to make difficult decisions on which students to allocate their funding to and who to deny14. At this point it is vital to consider that Aboriginal Canadians are also less than one third as likely to hold a bachelors degree than non-Aboriginal Canadians15. During the recession in late 00s, 390,000 jobs were created for people with university and college educations and 433,000 jobs were lost for those with lower levels of educational attainment16. The McMaster Students Union and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) have therefore have long supported and advocated for removing this 2% cap, believing that increasing funding for these students would be a small cost for a large benefit for a largely underrepresented group. The House Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development published a report in 2007 entitled, No Higher Priority: Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education in Canada where it looked at the state of post-secondary education for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit in Canada. It highlighted certain issues within the PSSSP and provided guidelines for resolving a currently flawed funding method. It specifically targeted the following17: - The elimination of the annual 2% cap for the Departments Post-Secondary Education Program

13 Assembly of First Nations. Fact Sheet: First Nations Post--Secondary Education. Accessed online:

www.afn.ca/uploads/Qiles/pse--fact--sheet.pdf. January 26, 2013.

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Author Interview with McMaster Indigenous Studies Program Office, Hamilton Hall 103. January 24 2013. Assembly of First Nations. Fact Sheet: First Nations Post--Secondary Education. Accessed online: www.afn.ca/uploads/Qiles/pse--fact--sheet.pdf. January 26, 2013. 16 Davidson, P.AUCC: Postsecondary education pays for economic growth. Accessed online: www.ipolitics.ca/budget 2011/? p=60118. January 16th. 2013. 17 Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2683969&File=102#Student

th

Increasing spending on PSE programming on actual costs associated with program components, without being subjected to discretionary caps The department should prioritize ensuring that every eligible First Nations and Inuit learner can access funding, with a plan highlighting target dates and goals The Department ensures that financial assistance for Aboriginal people under the PSE program is reflective of actual costs for tuition, travel, and living expenses indexed annually to reflect rises in both tuition costs and the cost of living The expenses routinely experienced by Aboriginal people are covered under the funding plan. Particular areas include child care, special needs, and special shelter. This review should occur immediately, and then continued at regular intervals.

Canadas Aboriginal population was hit hard by the most recent recession. In the core-aged working population (25 to 54 years old) employment dropped 2.8% in 2009 and 4.9% in 2010 among Aboriginal people18. For their non-Aboriginal counterparts employment fell by just 1.7% among core-aged workers in 2009 and grew by 0.8% in 2010.6 By 2026 it is estimated that 600,000 Aboriginal youth will be of the age to participate in the labour force19. In the December 2011 report Reforming First Nations Education: From Crisis to Hope, The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples noted: Seven in ten First Nations youth aspire to complete post-secondary education20. Ensuring equal educational outcomes for Canadas Aboriginal peoples would have a positive and immediate economic impact that would compound over time. Recently, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) outlined the potential returns to Aboriginal Canadians and the economy if Aboriginal educational attainment was improved. According to CASAs research, In 2008, 3,213 eligible students were denied funding and there was a backlog of 10,589 students who were eligible and ready to enroll but could not get funding to go to school. This backlog speaks to the funding gap created by the 2% cap on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) program expenditure for PSSSP. Making post-secondary educational attainment equally available to Canadas First Nations and Inuit youth will require a significant investment. However, it is critical to understand that adequately supporting First Nations and Inuit Canadians will allow them to reach the same levels of educational attainment as non-Aboriginal Canadians. This would have staggering benefits to Canadas Aboriginal population, the economy, and all Canadians. As prominently highlighted by a recent study conducted by Centre for Study of Living Standards (CSLS) in 200921, there are tremendous societal and economic benefits to higher levels of educational attainment by Aboriginal youth. By 2026, they estimated that a cumulative increase of $401 billion could be expected for Aboriginal incomes.
18 Statistics Canada. Study: Aboriginal people and the labour market. Accessed online: www.statcan.gc.ca/saily -quotidien/

111123/dq111123b--eng.htm.
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Hull,J. Aboriginal Youth in the Canadian Labour Market. Horizons, vol. 10, no. 1, 2008. Referenced via the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations brief on Post Secondary Student Support Program; November 2012 20 Assembly of First Nations. Fact Sheet: First Nations Post--Secondary Education. Accessed online: www.afn.ca/uploads/Qiles/pse--fact--sheet.pdf. January 26, 2013. 21 Centre for the Study of Living Standards. The Effect of Increasing Aboriginal Educational Attainment on the Labour Force, Output, and the Fiscal Balance. CSLS Research Report 2009-3. Ottawa. May 2009

Furthermore, the Government would see a net revenue benefit of $116 billion by 2026 due to increased tax revenue and decreased program expenditure. Based on the aforementioned evidence: Recommendation 1: That the federal government fund the backlog of students eligible for the program but not receiving funding to ensure that they can access post-secondary education. To make this a reality Government would have to make a one-time investment of $272 million. Recommendation 2: That the federal government remove the 2% cap on PSSSP funding and fully fund the program to increase access to funding. This would cost an estimated $147 million in the first year, and increase in subsequent years to cover demand and rising costs. Institutional Barriers The historical, cultural, and socio-economic complexities that have prevented the participation of many Aboriginal people in higher education are still perpetuated. The provincial and federal government need to make a concerted effort in raising Aboriginal representativeness in post-secondary education in order to combat systemic barriers that have prevented their enrolment. Areas in which difficulty is found for Aboriginal students include community outreach, support services, financial support, and the respect for, and inclusion of aboriginal perspectives within institutional education. Despite the growing presence of Aboriginal people in PSE over the last decade, they still remain largely underrepresented in comparison to other groups. Post-secondary education can help close earning gaps between Aboriginal individuals and other groups, increasing levels of employment. Heightened levels of participation in the labour force improve community development, as well as combat issues regarding self-perception. A significant part of this participation gap is due to the fact that Aboriginal youth have much higher secondary school dropout rates than non-Aboriginal youth.22 Aboriginal youth are more than twice as likely to have dropped out of secondary school as nonAboriginal youth, with a third of all Aboriginal 25-68 year olds not having completed a secondary school diploma. This number rises as high as half of all youth for onreserve and Inuit communities.23 It is worth noting, as Figure 224 demonstrates, that Aboriginal students who have graduated secondary school have similar, though slightly lower, overall PSE participation rates as the non-Aboriginal population, indicating that increasing the secondary school completion rate is an important step in raising post-secondary participation of Aboriginal youth as a whole. However, this

Social Research and Demonstration Corporation. (2009). Post-secondary student access and retention strategies. Literature review. Montreal: Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. 23 Berger, Joseph, Anne Mott, and Andrew Parkin. (2009). The price of knowledge: access and student finance in Canada. 4th edition. Montreal: Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. 24 Finnie, R., Childs, S., & Wismer, A. (2011). Under-Represented Groups in Postsecondary Education in Ontario: Evidence from the Youth in Transition Survey. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
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is not the only solution. Aboriginal applicants to post-secondary education in Ontario are twice as likely to decline offers of acceptance as non-Aboriginals.25

Figure 1: Highest level of attained education, Aboriginal and Canadian population aged 20-24 (OUSA Aboriginal Students Paper, 2011)

Figure 2: Impact of Secondary School Completion on Aboriginal PSE Attainment in Canada, Ages 25 to 34 (OUSA Aboriginal Students Paper, 2011)

Recommendation 3: The government needs to fund high-quality and appropriate education at the levels preceding PSE to ensure preparation and assist in success

McCloy, U., & Sattler, P. (2010). From Postsecondary Application to the Labour Market: The Pathways of Under-represented Groups. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
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A number of social and educational issues hinder the quality of education that Aboriginal students receive at the primary and secondary levels. This contributes to increased levels of dropout, university acceptance, and failure to remain enrolled once in the PSE sphere. In many cases, Aboriginal schools face poor funding and lack basic technology and textbooks. This is compounded by the poor integration by mainstream curriculum to reflect the Aboriginal perspective. It is necessary that high quality, culturally reflective education systems at the primary and secondary levels are achieved to improve representativeness at the PSE-level. Aboriginal students receive inadequate support both on-reserve as well as offreserve. Poor pay and limited support hinders desirability for high quality teachers to educate youth. Inadequate preparation not only limits the academic skillset, but also increases self-doubt and self-perception, again, perpetuating barriers to PSE. Recommendation 4: Aboriginal nations and communities should have control over curriculum material and delivery of primary and secondary education within reserves. The history of residential schooling has painted education in a negative light that must be combatted through providing the means for Aboriginal people to dictate their education at the primary and secondary level. Indigenous knowledge prioritizes things that are rarely considered in mainstream curricula, thus making it necessary for Aboriginal people to control the content and delivery within reserves. The Assembly of First Nations asserts that the education provided by Aboriginal people to its students would ensure they are capable of succeeding in society while still honoring tradition and cultural values. The MSU respects and agree with the trend of Aboriginal people shaping their primary and secondary education to ensure their culture is appreciated and allowing a welcoming and facilitating environment that provides Aboriginal students the opportunity to attain and excel within PSE. Recommendation 5: Early outreach initiatives are important to improving access for Aboriginal students, and should be directed and managed by Aboriginal communities and organizations to address their particular needs Due to high rates of dropout at the secondary level, it is necessary for outreach initiatives to begin early, particularly because most youth decide to attend PSE before grade 9. Proposed outreach ideas include mentorship programs, interaction with Elders and academic support, visits to PSE institutions, among other things. Due to the negative image of the current education system in the eyes of many Aboriginal people, it is necessary that they are heavily involved in shaping these initiatives to dispel barriers and address the unique concerns and priorities of their respective communities. The expense of these outreach initiatives should be covered by the provincial and federal government, while allowing Aboriginal communities to determine what approaches should be used for their communities. Concern: Aboriginal students face systemic barriers due to unique historical background and cultural climate, limiting participation in PSE. While other groups such as low-income, and rural northern students also experience barriers to PSE, it is important to recognize the unique experience of Aboriginal students. Historically, education was used as a means of assimilating Aboriginal peoples through the use of residential schooling. Furthermore, according to critics the current education curriculum is focused on a Eurocentric perspective at all levels of

education, rarely regarding the Aboriginal viewpoint26. Aboriginal students also experience hostility and cultural insensitivity in PSE institutions, as they fail to recognize the values and contributions of Aboriginal people In contexts where Aboriginal organizations and communities have controlled program content and delivery, programs have tended to be more successful in recruiting and retaining Aboriginal learners.27 Aboriginal post-secondary institutions, which have been present in Canada since the 1970s, have had success in attracting and graduating Aboriginal students, because these institutions pioneered the use of traditional teaching methods, consultation with Elders, partnership with the community, and Aboriginal administrators and professors at the posts-secondary level.28 At McMaster, there is an established Indigenous studies program where such initiatives are centralized, since its inception; the Indigenous Studies Program (ISP) currently located in Hamilton Hall incorporates a very unique teaching structure of Indigenous knowledge which involves many Native peoples and Elders. This unique perspective assists all students from various cultures and background in learning about the history and lives of Aboriginal people within an Indigenous perspective. The faculty and staff who works within the Indigenous Studies Program are dedicated to educating Indigenous perspectives and issues, as well the success of students.29 On that note the MSU was encouraged that in June 2011, the President of McMaster, Dr. Patrick Deane, announced a very prestigious Indigenous Knowledge Chair for the university. This Chair was donated by McMaster Alumnus, Paul R. MacPherson. Concern: Post-secondary institutions often consider the only legitimate approach to knowledge to be Eurocentric content and structure, ignoring Aboriginal culture, knowledge and language. Despite the increasing numbers of Aboriginal-focused courses at McMaster; Critics argue that Aboriginal content and structure is often is argued to be presented as subordinate to European worldviews, and treated as irrelevant to subject areas outside of Indigenous Studies at many Canadian Universities. Another report cites subtle and systemic racism as the biggest barrier for FN [First Nations] learning.30 As a participant in Aboriginal post-secondary education strategies put it, [NonAboriginal people] are allowed to be ignorant of Aboriginal people. Thus we exercise racism unconsciously.31 Several Aboriginal students at McMaster focus groups hosted by OUSA have cited faculty as presenting discriminatory or subtly racist perspectives in classes.32 In addition, there are difficulties in making the more substantive changes to the pedagogical and evaluative structure of universities that would incorporate Aboriginal methodologies and pedagogies. For example, while it may be relatively easy to include a section on Aboriginal authors in a Canadian literature course, it would be
26

R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. (2004). Aboriginal Peoples and Post-Secondary Education What Educators Have Learned. Montreal: Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. 27 Ibid. 28 R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. (2010). Promising Practices: Increasing and Supporting Participation for Aboriginal Students in Ontario. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario
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30

http://www.mcmaster.ca/indigenous/about_us.html

Battiste, Marie. (2005). Indigenous Knowledge: Foundations for First Nations. World Indigenous Higher Education Consortium Journal. Accessed at: http://www.win-hec.org/. 31 R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. (2004). Aboriginal Peoples and Post-Secondary Education What Educators Have Learned. Montreal: Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. 32 McMaster University. (28 October 2010). Aboriginal Focus Group.

much harder to change the structure of individual work and hierarchical evaluation that underlies the course design to reflect Aboriginal values of reciprocity and collaboration. To a large extent, current initiatives to include Indigenous Studies in university programs have focused on content, rather than structural changes. A more comprehensive approach to the inclusion of Aboriginal knowledge in post-secondary curriculum would recognize the contributions to diverse fields of study that Indigenous knowledge has made, and also the alternative methodologies for study that can be found in Aboriginal knowledge. Recommendation 6: The MSU encourages continued and enhanced coordination and consultative consideration of Aboriginal perspectives in all elements of curriculum development. Especially in light of its upcoming move under the Faculty of Social Sciences. Recommendation 7: For McMaster University to include Aboriginal perspectives as part of mandatory/optional Positive Space training offered to Staff, Professors, Volunteers and TAs, as well as any other campus stakeholders involved with servicing underrepresented groups on Campus. Indigenous Studies and Student Support at McMaster Aboriginal student centres refer to any physical spaces on campus designed to be a safe place for Aboriginal students, which may include a student lounge, as well as mentoring, academic, and personal counselling support. Aboriginal student centres are important because they provide sense of belonging and guidance to students who may find that the university environment is very different from environments in which they had previously lived. 33 Evidence suggests they can combat feelings of isolation, racism, and other issues among Aboriginal students, while generating greater awareness of Aboriginal programs among non-Aboriginal students and faculty members. 34 McMaster currently offers such a space at Hamilton Hall 103 which is deemed as temporarily adequate by many students and staff according to interviews and focus groups. McMaster also announced a new space for Indigenous Studies, which will be located in the upcoming Wilson Building for Humanities and Social Sciences, set for construction the summer of 2013. This will mean more space for students and services for students of Indigenous Studies. To further support this point a Canada-wide survey found that 73 per cent of universities and colleges have some type of Aboriginal student centre, and it is believed that nearly every Ontario institution has a centre, though the services provided through these centres varies widely.35 Stakeholders at institutions in Ontario also indicate that they view their Aboriginal student centres as a key component of attracting Aboriginal students to PSE and improving student retention. 36 Nevertheless, stakeholders also expressed strong concerns that these centres were often severely underfunded, which compromised their ability to provide essential services to students. 37 Less than a third of Aboriginal student centres receive
R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. (2010). Promising Practices: Increasing and Supporting Participation for Aboriginal Students in Ontario. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. 34 Ibid. 35 Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. (2010). Answering the call: The 2010 inventory of Canadian university programs and services for Aboriginal students. Ottawa: AUCC. 36 R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. (2010). Promising Practices: Increasing and Supporting Participation for Aboriginal Students in Ontario. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. 37 Ibid.
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dedicated funding from the government, the private sector, or Aboriginal organizations.38 Concern: Many Aboriginal student centres across the country have expressed a need for more physical space, tutors, counsellors, and administrative staff, in addition to funding and families for cultural and ceremonial event. Specifically program administrators at McMaster cited an extreme uncertainty with the funding of their department since it was directly reliant on provincial funding; the staff members were unsure what a change in government or a policy change would do to their jobs and department. The counsellors did not receive any consistent funding from the University operating budget to offer the unique services they provide. From a budget of approx. $350,000 the Program is currently funding three full time staff, an elders program and other important services, recruitment efforts, promotional events and other important requirements. While barely adequate for current operations, the limitations in funding prohibits the program from exploring additional programming and awareness activities on campus. Recommendation 8: McMaster Administration release a long term plan for sustainable and reliable funding for necessary Aboriginal Student Support Services Random Tangent 39 : The Faculty of Engineering at McMaster hosts a successful example of Early Outreach for Aboriginal Students via its STEM program. Since the Venture program within the Faculty has begun focusing on aboriginal outreach in the spring of 2012, over 1200 aboriginal students have been reached through efforts including workshops, McMasters Cultural Science Day, and aboriginal bursary spots in camp. Funding largely came from Engineering Alumni and other external funding. Opening up the campus to students from such underrepresented background is known to aid in attracting interest in McMaster University as an attainable target. Provincial Funding Programs Concern Ten: The provincial Aboriginal Bursary program reaches relatively few Aboriginal students. The Aboriginal Bursary is a provincial program for Aboriginal students with financial need, studying full or part-time at a college, university, or Aboriginal post-secondary institution. The details of the application process, including how much money is received, who qualifies as having financial need, and any additional requirements is set by individual schools, but students generally do not have to be status-First Nations to qualify. In 2009-10, the Aboriginal Bursary was received by 741 students for an average of amount of $1,600. Given that there are approximately 14,000 Aboriginal students enrolled in post-secondary education in Ontario, and that many of these students have substantial financial need, it is concerning that so few students received the Aboriginal Bursary.

Holmes, David. (2006). Redressing the Balance: Canadian University Programs in Support of Aboriginal Students. Ottawa: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.
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http://leap.mcmaster.ca/aboriginal.html

The low number of Aboriginal Bursary recipients is likely due to both the complicated application process and the limited availability of funds. The application for the Aboriginal Bursary is not tied to the OSAP application process, as are the vast majority of provincial bursaries, but rather involves a separate application set by the individual institution. As a result, there is little consistency in application processes between institutions. In addition, a student who applies for OSAP would not necessarily know that there was also a provincially-funded Aboriginal Bursary they could apply for, and students applying for the Aboriginal Bursary may not also realize that they can apply for OSAP. This concern is further enhanced by issues and stigma related to self-identification and how it is non-cohesively handled by Institutions, Government and OUAC. Another concern is that despite significant unmet financial need in the Aboriginal community, institutions were only able to disburse 85 per cent of the Aboriginal Bursary funds in 2009-10. In addition, studies have pointed to the fact that despite the increased costs of attending post-secondary education in recent years, the availability and magnitude of bursaries for Aboriginal students has not increased to meet the increased need. In 2009-2010, a mere $1.5 million dollars was available in total funding for the Aboriginal Bursary. The funding of the program is not based on the number of students with financial need who apply, but rather is a fixed amount per institution based on their Aboriginal student population. Consequently, applicants have no guarantee that they will receive any funding, let alone enough to meet their expenses. This contrasts with the OSAP process, where all students receive funding based on their need regardless of the demands on the provincial budget. Recommendation 9: The provincial government must expand the Aboriginal Bursary program to meet the unmet financial need of all Aboriginal students. The provincial government should take steps to ensure that all Aboriginal students in Ontario with financial need can access the Aboriginal Bursary program. Aboriginal students who have been accepted to a post-secondary institution have already overcome substantive barriers to higher education. Currently, the provincial government gives each university an allocated amount of Aboriginal Bursary funding for them to disperse as they see fit, and this amount is not based on actual need, but rather the funds available for the program. Students recommend the government set the funding for the program based on Aboriginal student need, and commit to providing each student who qualifies for OSAP with a bursary to help eliminate any unmet need. Expanding the Aboriginal Bursary program is particularly important given that evidence shows many Aboriginal students are debt averse and are therefore unlikely to apply for OSAP. One possible implementation method could involve setting a maximum bursary amount whereby any financial need that would have otherwise been met by OSAP through a loan is converted to non-repayable aid through the Aboriginal Bursary. Any further expansion of the Aboriginal Bursary program should be equally available to all Aboriginal students, regardless of status, Mtis or Inuit identity, and should be available to all Aboriginal students with financial need regardless of what year of study they are entering. No qualified status or non-status First Nations, Mtis, or Inuit student should be deterred from enrolling in or completing post-secondary education due to a lack of funding.

Recommendation 10: The provincial government must change the application process for the Aboriginal Bursary to increase use of the program. To ensure that the maximum number of Aboriginal students apply for the Aboriginal Bursary, students recommend the provincial government proactively raise awareness of the bursary, by ensuring that Aboriginal community centres, schools, and other organizations have adequate information about the bursary and qualification criteria. In addition, a relatively simple way to improve the uptake rate of the Aboriginal Bursary would be to include the bursary in the OSAP application process. This could be done in a way that every student self-identifying as Aboriginal on the OSAP application process is directly considered for the bursary. This would remove some of the confusion associated with institutions individually disbursing funds through a variety of criteria and processes, and ensure that more Aboriginal students receive funding through the bursary. To address the issue of debt aversion, the Aboriginal Bursary could remain available independently of the OSAP application through the government or institutions so students can apply for the bursary program even if they do not wish to access OSAP Recommendation 11: Ensure that independent students who are Aboriginal or have a child under the age of 12 are adequately supported by the new tuition grant or other existing financial assistance programs. (Sourced from the MSU Tuition Policy40) Estimated Cost to Government: $5-10 million The MSU is very concerned that the eligibility requirement excluding students who have been out of high school for more than four years is shutting out sub populations that are already financially vulnerable. The MSU was very pleased to see that Students with disabilities were accommodated in the grant program through the extension of the eligibility period and a reduction in the definition of a full course load to 40 per cent for these students. Expanding eligibility to more Aboriginal students and students with dependents continue to remain priorities for students. Aboriginal students are already severely underrepresented in post-secondary education only 9 per cent of the Ontario Aboriginal population aged 25-64 has a university degree, compared to 26 per cent of the non-Aboriginal population, a gap that has widened in recent years41. There are a number of reasons for this underrepresentation but significant financial barriers are chief among them; Aboriginal students are more likely to come from low-income families, while federal band funding has not kept up with demand. Most concerning for the purposes of the tuition grant is that more than half of Aboriginal students are mature and are thus ineligible42. The median length of time between graduating high school and entering post-secondary education is 15 months for Aboriginal students, compared to just 4 months for non-Aboriginal students43. There are a number of reasons for this, including wait times for Post-Secondary Student Support Program funding, the
40 41

https://www.msumcmaster.ca/governance/bylaws-policies/general-policies Canadian University Survey Consortium, Graduating Student Survey (2009). 42 R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd., Promising Practices: Increasing and Supporting Participation for Aboriginal Students in Ontario (Toronto:Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2010). 43 Hango, Darcy, Length of Time between High School Graduation and Enrolling in Postsecondary Education: Who Delays and Who Does Not? (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2011).

increased likelihood of attending college prior to transferring to university, and the nearly one in three Aboriginal students who report caring for a dependent child. As an intersection students with dependents are already under-represented in higher education and are more likely to be mature. For example, individuals who have a child before age 26 are less than half as likely to attend university as those with no children. The presence of a dependent disproportionately impacts women: a woman under 25 with a dependent child is only 20 per cent as likely to attend university as her peers. Individuals with children are more likely to be mature students because they often take longer to complete a credential or come back to school after an absence. The median number of months between high school graduation and entering postsecondary education is 16 months for those caring for children. Students with children also tend to have significant unmet need, as the OSAP funds provided for child care dramatically underestimate real costs. This need has been found to be particularly acute for those with children under the age of 12. When individuals with dependents are unable to access higher education, this also has broader economic and social repercussions for the Province. Both of these relatively small high need groups are largely excluded from the tuition grant since it is distributed only to dependent students. Moreover, these mature students have now lost the $150 Textbook and Technology Grant. We propose that independent students that indicate that they are Aboriginal or have a child under the age of 12 on their application receive the Ontario tuition grant regardless of how long they have been out of high school. Based on rough calculations, we anticipate the approximate cost of such an extension would be $4 million for Aboriginal students and $2-5 million for students with children. These concerns could also be addressed in other ways, such as redesigning the Aboriginal Bursary and Childcare Bursary, or changes to the need assessment and assistance maximums Recommendation 12: The Government should investigate expanding the grant to include more low income students Cost to the Government: Approximately $70 Million The Current Tuition Grant is cumulative in nature for certain low income students. Any student eligible for an Ontario Access Grant of over $1600 is completely ineligible for the 30% Off Tuition Grant; similarly if the OAG covers between 25% to 30% of a students tuition, the 30% off Grant caps up the allocation to a maximum total of $1600 per year. The MSU believes that a strong argument can be made for this grant to be awarded to all low income students regardless of their existing allocation for the Ontario Access Grant to make this program truly successful and beneficial for students in need. This expansion would allow Aboriginal Students and other underrepresented to further access the PSE system.