A degree is the new high school diploma. But who can afford it?

It's accepted wisdom that an undergraduate degree is the new high school diploma -- it's the ticket into the workforce.

But that ticket comes at an unrelentingly steep price: average tuition and fees in Ontario are the highest in the country, with no sign of abating.

While tuition fees are increasing all across Canada, Ontario's have tripled -- an increase way, way beyond the rate of inflation, as the following chart shows.

Ontario tuition and other fees are estimated at $8,474 this year and they're expected to climb to $9,483 by 2017 -- a 12 per cent increase, making Ontario consistently the most expensive place in Canada to try to get a ticket into the workforce.