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Toronto Top Stories

BREAKING | Jury finds Zameer not guilty in Toronto police officer's death

Two people injured in Scarborough crash

DeBrusk, Swayman power Bruins over Maple Leafs 5-1 in Game 1

Winning $70 million Lotto Max ticket sold in Toronto

Male youth in life-threatening condition after climbing on top of moving GO train and falling: police

Daulton Varsho's 3-run homer keys Blue Jays' 5-2 win over Padres

How to revive your lawn after winter and avoid long-lasting damage: experts

Nurse OT winner breaks Montreal hearts as Toronto wins PWHL 'Duel at the Top'

Ctvnews.ca top stories.

A man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer has been found not guilty. More coming.

Tim Hortons refutes potential lawsuit for Roll Up To Win prize snafu

Tim Hortons insists a potential class action lawsuit involving customers who were sent an email by mistake during the company's Roll up to Win contest has "no merit."

A 15-year-old boy is in hospital in life-threatening condition after climbing on top of the GO train, coming into contact with a stationary object and falling just after 12 a.m. on Sunday morning.

What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car

Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.

Young brother and sister dead after suspected drunk driver crashes into birthday party in Michigan

A young brother and sister died and several people were injured, some of them seriously, when a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a young child's birthday party Saturday at a boat club.

Strong Canadian showing in NHL playoffs is good news for fans

For Russ Jericho, seeing the Edmonton Oilers enter the Stanley Cup playoffs is the culmination of an unlikely passion.

Child not secured, mother holding baby on Highway 401 in eastern Ontario, driver facing charges

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says a car that was initially stopped for stunt driving on Highway 401 in eastern Ontario had a child and a baby not safely seated Friday evening.

In domestic abuse, strangulation is a 'hidden' predictor of femicide, experts say

Georgina McGrath, one of many survivors of domestic abuse, says police officers, judges and lawyers need specialized training about strangulation in intimate partner violence cases.

Key players: Who's who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial

Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week.

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Editor's Picks

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Montreal woman loses close to $25,000 in crypto platform scam

A Montreal woman says she lost close to $25,000 on a fake crypto trading platform she thought was developed by Elon Musk, highlighting the dangers of online scams, which are becoming more and more sophisticated.

Toronto's Sarah Nurse broke Montreal hearts 13 seconds into overtime in front of a record-setting PWHL crowd at the Bell Centre.

Situation improving in Montreal's Village, but problems persist

Members of the community in Montreal's Village neighbourhood say they've seen some improvements to local security and cleanliness, but argue Quebec needs to do more to support vulnerable people in the area.

Taylor Swift law class at Queen’s University making shock waves

A first of its kind entertainment law course centred on Taylor Swift will be offered this fall at Queen’s University.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe finishes London Marathon in just over 4 hours

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What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?

The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”

Northern Ontario

Northern Ont. man fined after decoy operation catches him hunting on private property

A Thunder Bay man has been fined $2,000 after he was caught in a decoy operation hunting on private land.

Rider taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries following ATV rollover

A lone rider involved in an ATV rollover has been transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Suspect wanted on 25 charges as part of stolen vehicle investigation in southwestern Ontario

Waterloo regional police are looking for a woman after they recovered nine stolen vehicles and laid more than 50 charges in connection to a fraud investigation.

Conestoga College and John Tibbits named in defamation lawsuit

Conestoga College and its president John Tibbits have been named in a defamation lawsuit.

'Unproductive day at the table': Negotiations between Western graduate TAs and university stall

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Early morning shooting under investigation by London police 'sounded like a shotgun or rifle,' says neighbour

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Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy announces he is retiring

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Detroit River marine training boosts cooperation and preparedness, say commanders

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Orillia OPP records six impaired driving arrests in past week

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Simcoe County LifeLabs employees protest over wage disparity

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Winnipeg woman charged after police vehicle rammed in traffic stop

A 25-year-old woman is facing a number of charges following a dangerous chase Saturday evening in Winnipeg’s River Heights and Charleswood neighbourhoods.

What Winnipeg Jets fans need to know before heading downtown for Game 1

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‘It’s a real celebration’: Manitoba chefs face off in 2nd annual charity chili competition

Dozens of vendors lifted their ladles for the second annual St. Norbert Farmers’ Market charity chili cook off Saturday.

Wrongfully convicted New Brunswick man dies months after exoneration

A wrongfully convicted New Brunswick man who spent decades trying to clear his name before being declared innocent by a judge in January has died at the age of 80.

One man in custody after weapons-related incident in Halifax

Halifax Regional Police has taken one man into custody after a weapons incident early Sunday morning.

Boil water advisory in place for Middle Musquodoboit after water main break

Halifax Water says water service has been restored to customers in Middle Musquodoboit after a water main break, but a boil water advisory is in effect for the area.

N.L. gardening store revives 19th century seed-packing machine

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500 Newfoundlanders wound up on the same cruise and it turned into a rocking kitchen party

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Protest averted as Newfoundland and Labrador premier helps reach pricing deal on crab

A pricing agreement has been reached between crab fishers and seafood processors that will allow for Newfoundland and Labrador's annual crab fishery to get started.

Range Road 221 closed due to Sunday morning collision in Ardrossan

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SUV stolen, owner run over in carjacking on Jasper Avenue Saturday morning: EPS

A man was run over by his own SUV Saturday morning after it was stolen by a carjacker on Jasper Avenue.

Brush fire burning in Grande Prairie County, public asked to avoid area: RCMP

Grande Prairie RCMP are asking the public to avoid the area around a brush fire that is burning Sunday morning.

Centre Street Bridge reopens after pedestrian struck early Sunday

Centre Street Bridge has reopened after being closed early Sunday morning for an investigation into a collision between a vehicle and pedestrian that sent one person to hospital.

Ukrainian and Western leaders laud U.S. aid package while the Kremlin warns of 'further ruin'

Ukrainian and Western leaders welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned the passage of the bill would 'further ruin' Ukraine and cause more deaths.

Police investigate stabbing in northeast Calgary Saturday evening

One person is in stable condition in hospital after a stabbing in northeast Calgary.

'It's very sad': Regina's Centennial Market being forced to close

Regina's Centennial Market (CM) is being forced to close after an inspection by Regina Fire and Protective Services (RFPS) found the building was not up to code.

'Recklessly spending tax dollars': Questions arise over cost of government infrastructure projects

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Regina fire crews battle early morning blaze, 22 suites displaced

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Saskatoon potters gather for pottery exhibition

The Saskatoon Potters Guild is back with their annual spring exhibition.

Saskatoon judge to make ruling on evidence in fatal THC-impaired driving case

A Saskatoon Provincial Court judge will determine whether testimony from a woman, charged with impaired driving causing the death of a child, will be used as evidence in her trial.

Saskatoon man facing multiple charges after break-in, stolen vehicle

A 34-year-old Saskatoon man is facing multiple charges after a break-and-enter escalated into an armed robbery.

Out-of-control wildfire burning in central B.C., visible from Highway 97

An out-of-control wildfire in B.C.’s Cariboo region is suspected to be human caused, according to officials, who say crews were called to a number of blazes Saturday.

Drivers warned to expect delays while overpass repairs underway in Delta

Work is now underway to repair an overpass in Delta that sustained significant damage when a commercial truck with an over height load crashed into it last year, according to officials.

Whale experts confident orca calf will survive, find family if rescue plan succeeds

The odds of a two-year old killer whale calf surviving in the open ocean on its own and eventually reuniting with family members remain solid if a rescue team manages to free the orca from the Vancouver Island lagoon where she's been trapped for nearly a month, whale experts say.

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EA Sports simulation predicts Vancouver over Boston in 2024 Stanley Cup final

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Victoria is B.C.'s 'dopest' city, according to Uber Eats

When it comes to delivery dope, B.C.'s capital comes out on top, according to Uber Eats.

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That Giant College ‘Sticker’ Price Isn’t What Most Students Pay

The share of those paying the full advertised cost has declined over the last couple of decades, a new report found. Yet many don’t understand how much they’ll really pay.

By Ann Carrns

Families with college-bound students may well have shuddered when they heard that the official, full cost of a year at some four-year private schools will soon hit six figures .

But outrage over mushrooming college “sticker” prices clouds a reality that some families may not fully understand: Few students pay the full price. That’s because colleges give financial aid to income-eligible students and merit aid — in the form of scholarships or tuition discounts — to more affluent families that may be able to pay the full price but may balk at doing so.

On average, private nonprofit colleges cut tuition by more than half for first-time undergraduates, according to a recent report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

That means college sticker prices — the full “cost of attendance” that the federal government requires colleges to publish — are an increasingly unreliable indicator of what a family will pay, according to a report titled, in part, “Ignore the Sticker Price,” and published Friday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. That goes for both low- and middle-income families, as well as for higher-income families that don’t qualify for need-based aid.

“Our current system of setting and communicating college prices simply does not work,” wrote the author of the report, Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. He analyzed federal data to track changes in college pricing for students at different income levels.

“We cannot expect students to make sound decisions regarding educational investments if they do not understand how much college will actually cost them,” he added.

Sticker prices are easier to track than net prices — what students end up paying after deducting grants and other financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid — but misleading because the share of students paying them has declined over time, the report said. In the 2019-20 school year, about 16 percent of students at private, nonprofit four-year colleges paid the full sticker price, down from 29 percent in the 1995-96 school year. (At in-state public colleges, about a quarter paid the sticker price in 2019-20, down from about half in 1995-96.)

Why would colleges promote themselves as more expensive than they really are? Colleges increasingly compete for students, and they may use the sticker price as a marketing tool to “signal” that the school is high quality, Dr. Levine said. They then award merit aid to encourage admitted students to enroll.

Average sticker prices at both private and public colleges rose roughly 70 percent from the 1995-96 to 2019-20 school years. Over the same period, typical net prices for lower-income students (with family incomes below $50,000) rose 44 percent at public schools and 24 percent at private schools — substantial increases but far below the rise in sticker prices.

For more than a decade, the report found, the typical net price at private colleges has increased just for higher-income students. But that still doesn’t mean college is affordable for low- or moderate-income families. Students from families with incomes of less than $50,000 are still being asked to pay almost $25,000 to attend a typical private institution, the report found.

“You do not need a Ph.D. to recognize that is not affordable,” Dr. Levine said in an interview.

The net price at public colleges has also become more of a stretch for lower-income families. At public colleges, the typical net price that low-income students pay, adjusted for inflation, rose to $18,000 in 2019-20, from $12,500 in 1995-96.

The gap between public price tags and actual cost deters less affluent students, who don’t even apply once they see an eye-popping list price.

“Sticker shock is a really big issue,” particularly for lower-income, Black and Hispanic students, said James Dean Ward, principal for policy and economic research at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit research and advisory group focused in part on higher education.

Some colleges are “resetting” tuition to more accurately reflect what students will pay, hoping to attract more applicants. Bridgewater College, a small liberal arts school in rural Virginia, announced last year that it was lowering its published tuition more than 60 percent, to $15,000 from $40,300, starting next fall. (Housing, meals, books, supplies, travel and personal expenses, which add substantially to the cost, are extra.)

“I think it’s time for higher education to be more transparent,” said David Bushman, Bridgewater’s president, adding that the move was made in part to answer growing public skepticism about the value of a college degree. Virtually no students were paying the school’s full cost of attendance in recent years, according to Bridgewater’s statistical report . The school’s new pitch: “Private college experience. Public college price.”

Students from lower-income families, who may be eligible for federal need-based Pell grants, are especially put off by high sticker prices, Dr. Bushman said. “A large percentage won’t even look at a school if they think it’s too expensive,” he said, even though they may thrive in a small college setting.

Dr. Ward’s research, which he wrote with Daniel Corral of the University of Toronto, has found that after a tuition reset, college enrollment doesn’t grow much on average, but the proportion of Pell-eligible students increases.

Dr. Bushman said Bridgewater’s move appears to be working. Applications for the coming academic year were up 30 percent. “I’m confident it will bring us more students,” he said.

Here are some questions and answers about college prices and financial aid:

Why don’t colleges simply advertise their average net prices?

Students could benefit if all colleges cut their sticker prices rather than giving big discounts to reduce the net price, Dr. Levine’s report says in a footnote. But unless all colleges did so, the ones adopting such a policy might lose students, if potential applicants equated a lower price with lower quality. If colleges all cut prices at the same time, however, it might attract the attention of regulators as a potential violation of antitrust law.

How should students and families weigh a college’s sticker price?

Students shouldn’t rule out a college solely because of its sticker price, said Michele Shepard, senior director of college affordability at the nonprofit Institute for College Access and Success. She suggested using net price calculators , required on school websites, before you apply, to get a rough idea of how much need-based financial aid you might get. (Some are more accurate than others, and most don’t factor in merit aid.) After you are accepted and receive an official financial aid offer, focus on the price after grants and scholarships, which don’t have to be repaid. (This year, offers may be delayed because of snafus with the revamped FAFSA , the federal financial aid form.) Focus on the total price you’ll pay out of pocket — not the size of the financial aid package, which may include work or loans — to see if the school is affordable for you.

How can I tell if a college offers significant merit aid?

Some colleges may offer merit estimators on their websites. Otherwise, you can check the college’s “common data set,” which among other things includes information on financial aid awarded. (Search online for the college’s name and “common data set” if you don’t find it on a school’s website.) You can see the number of students who qualified for need-based aid, as well as those who didn’t but got financial help anyway — meaning merit aid.

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