Canadian Lawyer

C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4STUDENTS AUGUST 2018 59 LAW SCHOOL TUITION FEES IN 2017/2018 TUITION FEES IN 2013/2014 PERCENTAGE INCREASE McGill University $4,388 $2,273 93% University of Alberta $11,582 $10,221 13% University of Western Ontario $22,784 $18,421 24% University of Manitoba $11,327 $9,311 22% Queen's University $20,506 $16,931 21% University of Saskatchewan $15,838 $12,015 32% University of Calgary $13,643 $12,315 11% Dalhousie University $18,215 $12,497 46% University of Windsor $18,578 $16,049 16% University of New Brunswick $10,576 $9,837 7.5% Lakehead University $18,723 $15,594 20% Thompson Rivers University $18,919 $17,828 6% Université de Moncton $6,566 $5,604 17% Université de Montréal $11,104 $6,632 67% Université de Sherbrooke $8,187 $6,632 23% Université Laval $4,018 $2,909 38% Université du Québec à Montréal $3,015 $2,407 25% University of Ottawa $19,333 $16,061 20% York University $27,243 $22,672 20% University of British Columbia $12,392 $11,448 8% University of Victoria $9,581 $9,029 6% University of Toronto $36,441 $30,230 20.5% features 4S report on the burden of post-secondary tuition that RBC released this year. While that is small overall, when you dig into that num- ber, direr numbers emerge — student loan debt accounts for 27 per cent of all debt for people in the lowest-income brackets and, among Canadians under 35, one-quarter have student loans. So why isn't this a bigger issue in law schools? Perhaps it's be- cause, for a decent chunk of law students, money isn't an issue. One of the most significant findings of the Just or Bust survey is that 61 per cent of students surveyed entered law school with no prior debt and 30 per cent would leave with nothing owing to the government or banks. e implication here is that a not-insignif- icant number of students have no financial woes, at least when it comes to paying for law school. Heather Donkers is the new president of the Law Students' Society of Ontario. She says the results of the LSSO's 2014 survey — which it plans on updating in 2018 — show clearly that Ontario law students see high tuition as an impediment to diversifying the student body and the legal profession. "Overwhelmingly, students are recognizing that it's not only a problem just in terms of actual debt repayment and actual practical concerns but also that it causes a huge issue for access to education and access to justice." ere are no official statistics on who is choosing not to apply to law school. But the cost, and the debt involved, make it highly likely that some of the people who could make law a truly diverse profes- sion are blocked from attending law school for financial reasons. Lorne Sossin was the dean of Osgoode Hall Law School until his term ended last spring. (He remains on the faculty.) During his ten- ure, he introduced a program that provides an interesting model for other law schools, the Income Contingent Loan Program. e pro- gram provides students with the total cost of tuition for all their law school studies — and they don't have to start paying it back until a year aer they graduate. If they make more than $80,000 a year, they must pay back the full share over a 10-year amortization period. If they make between $60,000 and $80,000, the alumnus pays back only Research by Amanda Woodrow

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