For Students, Deja Vu All Over Again

In the 1990s, the deficit fighting era saw record tuition fee hikes and debt load increases for students -- a trend some governments began to reverse in the more generous first decade of the 2000s. In a dilemma provincial finance ministers will be watching closely, Nova Scotia has to decide whether or not to find new money to avoid really big tuition fee hikes. This one could rekindle the old debate about whether or not high sticker prices for degrees keep students from applying for university or college,and could put the NDP government in unfamiliar ideological terrain if they have to defend a decision not to spend millions subsidizing tuition fees.