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
