All Posts Tagged With: "tuition fees"
UCalgary seeking 47% tuition increase
Students set to protest
The University of Calgary is planning to increase tuition fees by as much as 47 per cent in some professional programs. Although tuition in Alberta is indexed to the consumer price index, the province is allowing an exception this year for selected programs. As reported by the Calgary Herald:
At least four core faculties — engineering, business, law and medicine — are targeted for the hikes, although masters programs for education and business administration are also being scrutinized and none of U of C’s professional programs is necessarily off the table, officials said.
Medicine students, for example, face a $4,000 “market modifier” increase. Added to the 1.5 per cent hike allowed each year, fees would jump by 27.8 per cent to $18,600, from $14,384 the year before.
The figures are only preliminary and are being used for discussion purposes on campus before they’re sent to the province for approval, said Colleen Turner, vice-president of external relations.
Meanwhile the students’ union has planned a “Day of Action” for Tuesday in protest of the tuition fee increase.
Where all that money is going
Tuition rises, class size grows, and the bureaucracy gets big
The annual tuition fee debate has begun. This is the war dance that takes place every winter, when senior university administrators announce that students yet again face substantial hikes. Those administrators roll out the rationale they use every year: the increases are necessary to protect educational quality, top faculty costs top dollar, and the only alternatives are declining quality and staff layoffs or increased government funding. Students get angry. They claim that university is becoming a place for only the wealthy, that quality has suffered enough, and that debt loads are becoming unmanageable. Boards of governors—the guardians of public interest when it comes to the operation of universities—wring their hands and voice genuine empathy. They hope for solutions but find none. And then, as they always do, they approve the increases proposed by senior administration.
Here’s the thing: the students have a point—at least according to a detailed analysis of the finances of Canada’s largest 25 universities. A study of 21 years of data compiled annually by StatsCan for the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO) reveals some startling trends. In 1987-88, the top 25 universities spent $6 billion across all their activities; by 2007-08, that had increased by almost four times inflation, to $21 billion. That equates to about 13 per cent of Canada’s health care budget, or more than the entire defence budget. And that’s only the top 25 schools.
Funding trends have driven a stronger focus on research. In 1988, sponsored research—commissioned by governments and corporations—accounted for 14.9 per cent of top 25 expenditures; by 2008, it consumed 24.7 per cent. A parallel decline (from 67.1 per cent to 54.8 per cent) occurred in general operating expenditures. This includes the areas central to undergraduate teaching and student life: instruction, the library, student services, and other functions such as central administration.
The analysis suggests teaching has not just fallen down the priority list; it has been pushed there by conscious resource allocation decisions. Less money is reaching the classroom. In 1988, almost 65 per cent of operating funds were directed to instruction and non-sponsored research, where the teaching happens. By 2008 this had fallen to 58 per cent—an effective cutback of $30 million a year at the average top 25 school. Within the G13 group of Canada’s largest, research-focused universities, the cutback averages $35 million, and $45 million for the top 5 (Toronto, UBC, Alberta, McGill and Montréal).
Why the declines? In large part, they’re because of skyrocketing central administrative costs. Shockingly, 20 cents is now spent on central administration for every dollar spent on instruction and non-sponsored research; back in 1987-88, 12 cents went to administration. At the average top 25 university, central administration (including external relations) now consumes $18 million that previously would have flowed to instruction. (For a G13 school, it’s $20 million; for the top 5, $39 million.)
UPEI taking away credit card payment
Is the university looking to make more money? Hard to say, since they treat student borrowers better than most
The University of Prince Edward Island is the latest university in Canada to announce plans to disallow the use of credit cards for tuition payments.
The university expects to save $125,000 a year in transaction fees.
The undergraduate student union president Tim Cullen expressed concerns to CBC News that students may incur late fees university because of delays getting student loans. Under the current credit card payment system, it is possible for students to avoid late fees by charging to their credit cards and paying off the credit card balance with student loans.
While I normally agree with the concerns expressed by Cullen, the situation is not as black-and-white as it first seems.
UPEI is more reasonable than most universities (Not saying much, I know) in the country for student borrowers. Many universities punish students requiring student loans with “administrative fees” and high interest rates that probably make credit card companies blush. (See a chart of these fees at 27 selected universities here)
UPEI allows two weeks for student loans to arrive from the beginning of the semester. For most students, this is more than enough time to process and receive their loans. Many universities require payment prior to the beginning of the academic year and charge student loan recipients “late fees.”
While UPEI may be reasonable in this policy, it is clear that students unable to meet their deadline will be “SUBJECT TO LATE FEES AS SPECIFIED UNDER THE FEES SECTION OF THE UNIVERSITY CALENDAR” (emphasis is from university’s own form for students requesting permission for late payment.)
Instead of fighting against the university, the students’ union should be lobbying the university to use the $125,000 saved to waive late fees for students in financial need. Then, the new policy will be a win-win for the university and students. The university will save more money than it will use to “subsidize” students needing alternative payment agreements. Students needing extra time for payment will receive it without having to turn to credit cards to bridge them over.
While I commend the UPEISU for taking a stand on the issue, their energy may be better spent looking for a new solution for students who use credit cards instead of trying to hold onto the status quo.
Border? What border? along the 49th parallel
Some U.S. universities offer Canadians domestic tuition, but keep full fees for most out-of-state Americans
Inside Higher Ed, one of two high quality higher education publications in the United States, reported last week on a “new” trend in the Prairies along the United States/Canada border: the granting of domestic/in-state tuition rates to students crossing the border.
First, some context. In the United States, most students crossing state borders are charged significantly higher tuition fees than students staying within their own state borders. While the United States federal government has more influence and provides significantly more direction to universities in exchange for public funds, the “provincial” boundaries in the United States are significantly stronger compared to those in Canada.
The concept that a student from Ontario would be treated any differently than a student from British Columbia at a B.C. university seems absurd to us, but this is taken for granted every day in the United States.
With the exception of Quebec and Nova Scotia, provincial governments don’t care where you come from. As long as you’re from Canada they will charge you the same rates as “in-province” students. (Quebec charges out-of-province students on-par with the average tuition rate in Canada. Nova Scotia charges out-of-province students the highest domestic rate in the country.)
This makes the decision by some United States institutions to grant “in-state” tuition rates to students from nearby states and provinces significant. They are going against the conventions of the American higher education system. While Americans love to play out their national patriotism, they are truly a union of individual states with all the higher education border barriers one would expect of a sovereign nation-state.
In terms of many Canadian students taking up the offer, that remains to be seen. While students can bring Canada Student Loans with them, some provinces do not grant loans to students paying their tuition fees to a foreign institution.
German students protest changes to education system
In Mainz, protesters occupied a state parliament building and covered it in toilet paper
BERLIN — Tens of thousands of German high-school and university students are protesting against changes to the country’s educational system.
Organizers say 240,000 students across the country were taking part in Wednesday’s rallies. The students are lobbying for smaller class sizes, better training and an end to tuition fees that have been introduced at some universities.
Most demonstrations were peaceful, but in Mainz protesters occupied a state parliament building and covered it in toilet paper.
In Duesseldorf, 7,000 students marched to the state education ministry, carrying signs with slogans like “abolish tuition.”
Organizers in Berlin say 27,000 took part in a peaceful demonstration outside the city hall. Police say only 12,000 were involved.
- The Associated Press
To student outcry, U of T approves flat fee
Policy will apply to students taking three to six classes, starting 2011
In a move that student groups are calling a cash grab, the University of Toronto has approved a plan to charge a flat fee in the school’s faculty of arts and science. This means students will be charged the same amount to take three classes as they would pay to take five.
“Flat tuition fee structures are nothing but a repulsively unethical band-aid solution to the persistent underfunding of Ontario universities,” said Sandy Hudson, president of the U of T students’ union, in a press release issued yesterday. “Our university has let the government off the hook, at the expense of thousands of students.”
The university, which is the country’s largest, will not implement the increase until 2011, and a spokesperson for the school says current students will not be affected. The new fee will be phased in gradually, which means that new arts and science students on the school’s St. George campus will be charged for five courses, even if they take four.
The U of T students’ union is calling the policy “regressive” and has filed a lawsuit against the university in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice in an attempt to fight the change.
“The University has lost over $1.3 billion in risky investments this year,” said Adam Awad, union vice-president of university affairs. “This transfer of debt from the public university to individual students is unethical and will impede access to post-secondary education.”
The fee change is intended to encourage students to take as many classes as possible, according to the university, and will also apply to students taking six courses. Because the provincial government pays universities for each course taught, not per student, the policy is aimed at generating between $8 to 14 million in additional government funding every year.
In The Toronto Star, arts and science dean Meric Gertler praised the move as a way to help bail out a faculty facing a deficit of $5 million to $7 million a year. He also noted students already pay a similar flat fee in U of T’s’ departments of music, physical education, computer science and commerce.
The school says it will be emailing thousands of prospective students about the fee change before the May 28 acceptance deadline, and says it has set aside $1.5 million of extra financial aid for students who can’t afford the new fee.
Tuition at USaskatchewan to increase
Fees will go up by 3 per cent, all departments will suffer budget cuts
Tuition at the University of Saskatchewan is going up by an average of three per cent.
The Saskatoon-based university also says it’s cutting costs to help slash an estimated operating budget shortfall of $10 million. The reduction means almost all academic and administrative departments will see cuts in their budgets.
Brett Fairbairn, a university spokesman, says the reduction is necessary because of the global economic downturn which has led to income shortfalls.
The university says tuition fees would have increased regardless of its financial situation.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 full and part-time students attend the university.
- The Canadian Press
Ontario tuition increases outpace rest of Canada
Since province introduced “cap” in 2006/7, tuition has increased by 13 per cent
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations has published the first issue of its new academic magazine Trends in Higher Education. The first issue focuses on tuition: specifically the proportion of overall university revenue that tuition contributes to in Ontario.
The report notes since the provincial government introduced its “tuition cap” in 2006/07, tuition in Ontario has increased by 13 per cent. During the same time period, the national average was only three per cent.
Not only has tuition increase, government funding as a proportion of overall university budgets has decreased. In 1990, tuition accounted for 20 per cent of university revenues, in 2007/08, tuition accounted for 43 per cent of revenues.
The article appendix includes charts comparing tuition costs across Canada over the past 10 years. It is a great resource to keep handy.
You can read the entire article on the OCUFA website here.
Lower tuition fees and accessibility
Report exposed Manitoba’s tuition freeze policy for what it really was
Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett has written an epilogue on the Manitoba government’s recent decision to lift the tuition fee freeze in that province. Lett makes the following point about lower tuition fees and accessibility:
The tuition freeze has been wildly popular with students, of course, but it has been under constant attack from the schools, which claim it starves them of needed revenue. Earlier this month, the province released a report written by Ben Levin, a former deputy education minister, that pretty much exposed the tuition freeze policy for what it really is.
Levin noted there was no connection between lower tuition fees and accessibility, the NDP government’s chief motivation for maintaining the freeze. Levin recommended modest tuition increases for university and college students, the first in a decade.
Levin’s conclusions were hardly shocking
Two years ago, Ontario and Quebec completed exhaustive studies of the relationship between tuition fees and accessibility. The conclusion was that lower tuitions make education more affordable for those who could afford to go; for those who could not afford to go, lower tuitions did nothing.
B.C. political parties on tuition fees
Liberals to continue caps, NDP promises a freeze, Greens pledge 20% reduction
British Columbians will go to the polls in a provincial general election on Tuesday, May 12. The major political parties are offering the following directions for tuition fee policy:
After having deregulated fees during their first term starting in 2002, the B.C. Liberals are pledging to continue with capping increases to the rate of inflation. The NDP is promising a freeze, while the B.C. Greens would roll back fees by 20 percent. The B.C. Conservatives would give tax incentives to new graduates moving into industries with skills shortages.
Drop fees, not birth rates!
NB mayor says free tuition would encourage procreation, increase population
A number of arguments have been put forward in favour of the elimination of post-secondary tuition fees over the years, including arguments associated with increasing access for those who cannot afford post-secondary education and mistaken notions about equity and taxation.
The mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick has proposed another reason for eliminating tuition fees: procreation. Saint John Mayor Ivan Court believes that free tuition for post-secondary education might encourage Saint Johners to have more children and thereby increase the city’s population.
Can you imagine the placard slogans?
Manitoba tuition freeze thawed
Province lifts decade-old freeze, allows universities to charge students up to 4.5 per cent more
As reported by The Winnipeg Sun:
For the first time since the 1998-99 school year, university and college students in Manitoba will see an increase in their tuition fees this fall.
The provincial government announced this morning that it is lifting its decade-old tuition freeze, and will allow universities to charge students up to 4.5% more for tuition this year. That amounts to an average of about $135 more for a typical arts or science student. Colleges will be allowed to charge students $100 more this year.
British students paying and borrowing more
Tuition hikes increased first-year student spending by 12 per cent over three years
From the BBC:
Students are spending more money and receiving more support than ever before, suggests a survey of student finance in England.
The Student Income and Expenditure Survey shows that higher tuition fees have increased first year student spending by 12% in three years.
Driving this was the introduction of higher tuition fees, which were implemented in the 2006-07 academic year. The accompanying grants, bursaries and loans also pushed up the income of students.
Report author, Claire Johnson, a principal research fellow at the Institute for Employment, said student income had risen overall, although most of the increase was driven by income from tuition fee loans.
Time to abolish tuition and shrink universities?
“Overcrowded” campuses need to be thinned out: CBC commentator
Responding to the recent report on Canadian university funding from the Educational Policy Institute, CBC commentator Heather Mallick suggests that tuition fees should be abolished. She argues that university education is overpriced and that the return on this investment is something that is inherently uncertain for students. No argument from me there, however, she and I diverge on the question of returning to the elite university system of the past. For her part, Mallick contends that our universities are “overcrowded” and need “to be thinned out”:
Here’s my plan for reshuffling the whole deck of cards that makes up the education mess: abolish tuition so that universities are free.
What would happen? Universities, not tempted to profit by taking as many paying customers as possible, would accept only those students with a realistic chance of success.
Grade inflation would become pointless and dumbing down would end.
A university degree would be a gleaming thing, as opposed to a basic that now has to be topped off with some kind of postgraduate degree to catch anyone’s attention.
Class sizes would shrink. Without the tuition cash, all six-figure professors would have to teach classes rather than edit obscure journals read by 12 people who meet yearly in Belgium to discuss which of the Wittgenstein siblings actually slept together.
This would narrow the university degree once again instead of the peony-like expansion that is flinging students into huge debt.
Tuition fee increase debate continues
“Nobody has any idea how student aid works,” says post-secondary expert
Alex Usher, who raised a stir this week by suggesting that tuition fee increases are an acceptable means of raising additional funds for institutions hard hit by the economic downturn, has responded to his detractors in the Educational Policy Institute’s Week in Review.
Those with an interest in tuition fee and student financial aid policy should read the whole piece, but the two following passages are particularly well done and are central to Usher’s argument:
“Apparently, no amount of empirical, scientific findings about the determinants of access will change the debate about tuition fees. Over the last ten years, a lot of time, money and effort has gone into trying to figure out the effects of finances on access to PSE, and they have been very hard to find. Basically, at current levels of tuition and current levels of student financial aid, the effects of tuition as a barrier to education appear to be tiny or non-existent. I won’t bore you with the econometric data, but consider the weight of experience: BC raised tuition by 55% in two years in 03-05 – more people went to PSE after the cuts than before. Same with the 50-60% increase in tuition in Ontario in the mid-90s. Same with the 130% increase in Quebec in 90-91. As for the question of *who* goes to school – some of the worst results in terms of access from low-income youth come from Newfoundland, where tuition is quite low. Ontario does pretty well in comparison, even though tuition is around double here what it is there. But absolutely none of this matters, apparently. In the public mind, (and that of politicians, apparently), access is always and everywhere about money.
Nobody has any idea how student aid works. Many people evinced genuine concern about the less fortunate in case if a tuition rise. And of course, they’d be right…if we were to ignore the effects of student aid entirely. But the fact is that the less well-off are to a substantial extent protected by student aid. If their need rises, they don’t automatically get more debt; in many cases, grant and remission programs kick in more aid to help them. I think student aid is going to be called on to help an awful lot of new clients in the next few years – and it will be important for everyone who cares about fairness to defend these programs vigorously in the next little while, because I guarantee that the resulting explosion in program costs is going to make politicians eager to start cutting away at them. And if that means sacrificing programs which are more likely to benefit the wealthy, such as tuition tax credit programs, then so be it.”
Former chair of NL college board calls for free tuition
Ex-CEO says province should use Irish model for post-secondary education
Responding the Educational Policy Institute’s recent proposal that colleges and universities increase tuition fees by up to 25 per cent, a former chairperson of the College of the North Atlantic Board of Governors is instead calling for the implementation of free tuition in Newfoundland and Labrador following the model used for post-secondary education in Ireland.
Vince Withers, former President and CEO of NewTel Communications (now part of Bell Aliant) and an honorary graduand of Memorial University, told a St. John’s talk radio show that he “can’t understand why anyone would call for a dramatic increase in tuition fees”. Withers went on to say that he doesn’t believe that Premier Danny Williams will consider lifting the province’s fee freeze, which has been in place for over a decade.
World’s most expensive universities
With annual tuition fees of $40,437, George Washington University tops the list
With tuition fees at $40,437 (USD) for the 2008-2009 academic year, George Washington University in Washington D.C. has the highest tuition fees in the United States according to Forbes magazine.
Also in the top 5 are Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York State ($40,350), Kenyon College in Ohio ($40,240), Vassar College in New York State ($40,210), and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania ($36,652).
The list of pricey universities outside of the U.S. includes Canada’s own Quest University ($20,500), Switzerland’s Franklin University ($33,100), the American University of Paris ($33,000), Imperial College London ($27,800) and the National University of Singapore ($24,000).
Of course, these figures (all in USD) do not include the cost of books and supplies, room and board, transportation and other expenses which amount to many thousands of dollars more.
Overview of federal/provincial tax credits and rebates
Depressed by the price of university? These programs can help lighten your debt
Tax credits from the Government of Canada
Tuition tax credit: $400/month for full-time students, $120/month for part-time students.
Textbook and technology credit:$65/month for full-time students, $20/month for part-time students
Tax credits from provincial governments
Alberta and Ontario: $460/month per student
Manitoba and Saskatchewan: $400/month per student
All other provinces: $200/month per student
Tax rebates from provincial governments
Manitoba: Introduced in 2007, the “Manitoba Tuition Fee Income Tax Rebate” provides post-secondary graduates with a 60 per cent income tax rebate on their eligible tuition fees. The rebate can be claimed over a period of 6 to 20 years by any graduates who have completed studies at a post-secondary education institution after January 1, 2007 and now work and pay taxes in Manitoba.
New Brunswick: The “Tuition Tax Cash Back Credit”provides graduates from an eligible post-secondary institution, who live, work and pay provincial personal income tax, eligibility for a non-taxable rebate of 50 percent of their tuition costs to a maximum of $2,000 per annum (maximum lifetime rebate of $10,000). The graduate has 20 years to utilize the tax credit.
Nova Scotia: The “Graduate Tax Credit” is available to anyone living and working in Nova Scotia who graduated from an eligible post-secondary program on or after January 1, 2006. The Tax Credit is only accessible by application and can reduce the provincial portion of income tax by $1,000 for a single year (unused portions can be carried forward for up to two years). In 2008, the credit has been expanded to $2,000.
Saskatchewan: Introduced in 2007, the “Saskatchewan Graduate Tax Exemption” replaced the Graduate Tax Credit (whose value was increased in 2004 from $350 to $500 with a target of $1,000 by 2007) allows graduates of any recognized post-secondary institution to be exempt from provincial income tax for $10,000 per year, or $50,000 during the first five years following graduation. The exemption is likely to result in annual tax savings for a graduate of $1,100 or $5,500 over five years.
Rising tuition? It’s a myth
New study says the real cost of university is falling. One province is even paying its students
On Nov. 5, the streets of downtown Ottawa were flooded with angry students frantically waving red-and-black “Drop Fees” signs. Nationwide, thousands rallied, demanding protection from what everyone knows are skyrocketing tuition fees. This is probably the image that springs to mind when you think about the price of a university education in Canada: students protesting, and tuition fees that just keep going higher and higher.
But according to a new report by Canada’s only higher education think tank, the cost of a university education for the average Canadian is actually going down: when inflation and a growing list of federal and provincial tax breaks are taken into account, a degree is now slightly cheaper than at the turn of the century. The real cost of an education has fallen in most provinces. In Manitoba, real tuition costs are down more than 100 per cent in the last eight years—which means that the average student in that province is effectively being paid $51 a month to go to school.
These surprising findings come from a recent report from the Educational Policy Institute (EPI). Alex Usher, director of the Canadian arm of the international think tank and the study’s co-author, says the commonly held view that university is becoming unaffordable is just plain wrong. “By any reasonable measure, education is a lot more affordable now here than it was 10 years ago,” says Usher.
More: Overview of federal/provincial tax credits and rebates
Tuition and related fees have been steadily rising in most provinces. But according to, “Beyond the Sticker Shock 2008–A Closer Look at Canadian Tuition Fees,” the tuition sticker price is not the real measure of the cost of university. Governments are offering a growing list of tax credits and rebates, targeted at students, which greatly reduce the real cost of university. It’s as if you walked into a car dealership and saw that the sticker price of a car was $20,000—but were also told all buyers would receive a $5,000 rebate. The real cost of the car would be $15,000, not $20,000.
That’s what’s been going with Canadian university costs: sticker prices are going up, but student tax credits and rebates are increasing, too. “Since 1999-2000, these credits have completely offset out the effects of any increases in tuitions,” says the report. “[Tuition] is no higher now than it was eight years ago.”
In order to accurately measure real tuition costs, Usher and EPI created a measure that takes into account inflation, as well as the growing amount of tax relief offered to students, calling the resulting number “Everybody’s Net Tuition”. Over the past few years, governments have introduced a number of large tax breaks targeted at higher education students. For example, for every month that they are enrolled, full-time students can claim a $400 tax credit from the federal government; part-time students can claim $120 per month. The textbook and technology tax credit, introduced in 2006, gives $65 off a month to full-time students and $20 a month to part-timers. Usher says taking such tax benefits into consideration and subtracting them from average tuition gives a more accurate picture of what university actually costs.
Value of Available Tax Credits per Full-Time University Student (click on charts to enlarge)
