If you think improving access to education should be one of the key objectives of the Canadian Federation of Students, Lisa Macleod has got news for you.

Sounding very much like an anti-Liberal ad, Macleod, the federation's chairperson in British Columbia is lambasting the government's decision to allow Western Canada's oldest and largest private community college to offer courses leading to a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

First let's hear what she has got to say.

President Dean Duperron

"By allowing Sprott-Shaw to offer a business degree, the government is sending the business and academic communities a clear message: business degrees aren't university caliber degrees."

"This is another example of the Campbell government putting private interests ahead of the needs of young British Columbians," said MacLeod calling on opposition parties, backbench MLAs, and BC Liberal candidates to condemn the decision if elected in the May 17th, 2005 election.

Now let's see what she did not include in her statement.

Schools like Harvard and Stanford, which are private, offer similar courses. If Macleod's yardstick is anything to go by, then the business degrees from these private institutions must be worthless.

Macleod also forgets to mention that Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick all allow private schools to offer business degrees and have done so with a great deal of success.

The federation in their shrill press statement entitled BC Liberal Government Makes Business Degree Worthless ignores some critical numbers that make the Sprott-Shaw decision a good and timely one.

A 2001 government study showed that more than 17,000 high school graduates were eligible for university entrance. Some 12,000 applied and about 9,000 were admitted.

An estimated 2,600 students, most with high averages could not get in because of the huge demand for higher education in a public institution.

So along comes Sprott-Shaw Community College with over 100 years under its belt and a blue-ribbon panel to offer a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree.

Its curriculum gets approved by British Columbia's Degree Quality Assessment Board--the same people who approve similar degree granting status for institutions that pass the 'Macleod test'.

Instead of hailing the move as an initiative to provide increased access and choices for students, who may not qualify for university entrance that require more than an 85 per cent grade average, Macleod and her lot are upset.

Taking issue with the British Columbia's Degree Quality Assessment Board, Macleod claims the Sprott-Shaw move is "another example of the Campbell government putting private interests ahead of the needs of young British Columbians."

Macleod is wrong.

Her views are myopic and have the familiar ring of someone intent on dethroning the Liberal government.

The move by the government to allow caliber schools like Sprott-Shaw to offer degrees allows an opening for students who cannot gain access to universities and public institutions.

It gives students an opportunity to learn what they really want to learn.