Grade 12 students weigh in on Liberal promise

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University acceptance letters arrived in the mail late last week for Jenny Le, like many high school students.

And now that the Toronto Grade 12 student secured spots at both York and Ryerson universities, her mind has turned to picking the right one — a choice that may boil down to one issue.

"We're concerned about the costs of each university we applied to," said Le, 19, who was debating the topic with two Bloor Collegiate Institute classmates over the lunch break on Tuesday.

"Mostly we're concerned about [University of Toronto] because their costs are really high … so we're talking about getting into Ryerson because their costs are less expensive."

The three friends all plan to study business management, so financial concerns weigh heavily on their minds.

A Liberal campaign promise to create a $1-billion education fund announced Tuesday morning tweaked their interest. If elected, the party vows to give high school students going into post-secondary education a $1,000 tax-free grant each year for up to four years.

"For us Grade 12s, we're graduating," said Le's friend, Adeel Saleem, 17. "We think about this, you know, if it's going to help us or not. That's probably one of the reasons why they added this into their campaign for votes."

But the trio greeted the promise with a dose of skepticism.

"I wonder how that $1,000 will translate into other taxes," asks Le's other friend, Stas Idowu, 18. "Where does this $1,000 come from?"

The Conservative Party says the $1-billion fund will wipe away $700 million in tax relief from students and parents by removing the education and textbook tax credits.

In the end, Le says, the dollars all come from the same pot: taxes.

"It's all going to be our money in the end," she says.

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