MEMORANDUM
HereIs the Report That You Requested About Tuition Cost in Canadian Universities
In my research, I have determined that there is an anomaly in the selectedCanadian postsecondary institutions tuition fees (University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano). There has been an increase in the tuition fees by an alarming rate over the academic years in the selected institutions. Only two of the selected universities depict a standstill educational fee policy while the other present the students with a hard situation to raise the depicted tuition fees (university of Capilano). For this paper I will discuss the universities tuition fees for University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano.
I thank you for providing me with his opportunity to take such a pressing issue in the society as part of the assignment. It has been of great help to my knowledge and critical judgement of the topic. I will be available for any queries if there is any.
Executive Summary4
Irregular Increase in the Tuition Fees4
Canadian Toleration on the Trend4
Method 6
Findings 7
Schools Take On the Increase 10
Most Expensive Graduate Programs 12
International Students Tuition Fees 13
Cause of Increase in Tuition Fees 13
Recommendation 15
References 16
List of Illustrations 18
FIG2: Comparison of Canadian undergraduate students Tuition Fees Per province 18
FIG3: bar graph showing cost of various courses in Canada. 18
Executive Summary
This paper intends to determine and analyse the costs of tuition on postsecondary institutions in Canada specifically focussing on University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano. There has been a trend developing; whereby, there is an increase in the average tuition fees in Canadian universities. This is a discouraging feature as will be seen, as it causes high illiteracy among those from poor backgrounds yet they may be bright enough to join the institutions.
With the increase in tuition fee among the Canadian universities, people do not remain vigilant and staunch in the credibility of such increases. If people took an extra step in coping with the problem, the government would provide relevant advice on the abnormal increase in these tuition fees in the three institutions.
Introduction
Stats Canada is a statistics and research institute that has been for the last years involved in numerous researches on rising tuition fees. The selected three institutions have progressively increased the tuition fees since 2012. In addition, the tuition fees in the selected institutions have been growing steadily over the years. In the year 2012 to 2013, the enrolment at all the Canadian university increased tuition fees to a percentage increase of 22% of full-time enrolled students (Usher, 2015). Due to this high enrolment, the cost of joining the university as well as those of tuition fees and other supplies gradually increased. The costs of living and accommodation, as well as that of tuition fees, have been growing progressively even faster than the rate of inflation. Many of the students in university of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilanomust borrow finances to cater for their education (Lacobucci, 2015). The contention around those who attend the selected institutions and who funds their tuition fees is increasingly gaining interest in policymaking decisions. A survey conducted in February 2014 by the postsecondary education participation survey depicted that there were huge charges on the students creating a filter on those that joined these institutions (Association of Universities in Canada, 2015).
Statement of Problem
The progressive rate of increase of school fees in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano is a concern to every individual affiliated with the institutions. A look into the reasons why the tuition fees are being increased with no apparent reasons questions the credibility in management and control of these establishments with a focus on University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano. Whereas in the controlled provinces the tuition fees remain constant, the other institutions do not give a reason enough why the fees are being sky-rocketed each and every year. We, thus, need to develop a system which aims to control and monitor the internal and external factors affiliated with the rising tuition fees and find probable ways to curb the problem.
Method
The method used in these research paper involved correlational research. The research methods used related comparisons between three universities fee policies and their co-variation. In my research, I have employed use of empirical data as well as collection of the same. The methodology is well related to observational research as no data was manipulated when being presented in this paper. The procedure for data collection involved:
Visit to the school websites to collect and relate values and figures for the last four years.
Online research by various scholars about the rising cases of school fees in the three institutions.
Consultation from students portal on their take and feeling on the issue.
Newspapers articles on the topic and adverts relating to tuition fees about University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano.
However, I avoided use of conclusive judgement as various factors beyond knowledge may be involved which are not exposed. This is according to the research method involved.
Findings
Tuition Fees in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilanoin Canada are created by the management of these institutions which is determined by various factors; the program a student is pursuing, whether a student is international or Canadian, and the level of education- graduate, undergraduate, postgraduate(Neil, 2014). The tuition fees at the moment are most expensive in university of Capilano. According to Canadian stats, an average cost of CA$6,000 for typical undergraduate as well as the postgraduate courses were charged on students in the three institutions.
Statistics Canada through a recent research determined that tuition fees continue to increase continuously in the institutions. Stats can determine that there is an average tuition fee for the Canadian postsecondary and full-time students. The value of this average cost of tuition in the year 2014/2015 rose by 3.3 percent, which was calculated in comparison to the previous year for the University of Victoria. In the year 2014/2015, an average undergraduate student was supposed to pay $5,959, which was a rise by $808(Usher, 2015).
In the 2015/ 2016 academic year, the students paid a total of $6, 191 compared to the 2014//2015 school year value of $5, 959 in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano .In the selected institutions and others in general, the undergraduates studying dentistry, medicine, law as well as pharmacy, continue to remain among the seniors paying the highest value of tuition fees. In 2014/2015, a dentistry student in the selected universities spent a total amount of $18, 934, which was the highest recorded tuition fee in the same year (Usher, 2015). Medicine students then seconded with an average value of tuition fees of $13, 416 and pharmacy and law followed respectively with values of average tuition fees being $11, 723 and $10, 983. The tuition fees in 2015/ 2016 year recorded a gradual increase of 2.2% in the education and nursing related courses to a 5% increase for engineering courses.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Among University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano, Kwantlen polytechnic university is the where the ROI for students is probable to return ROI. This is because the tuition fees for the institution have been harmonized unlike those in victoria and Capilano.
The students in 2015/2016 academic year who enrolled in various graduate programs in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano were required to pay an average value of $6, 432 in tuition fees, which presented an increase from the previous years by 2.22%. There was an increase in the average tuition fees for every institutionin the selected ones (Lacobucci, 2015).
Graduate students paid average tuition fees of $8, 971 in the University of Victoria. The cost of the university degree in the three institutions is steadily getting more and steeper with the values noted to have tripled between 1990 and 2017. According to David Macdonald, a well-painted economist, the public is increasingly getting concerned over the increase in the cost of learning in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano (Neil, 2014). David relates this to the growing debt loads on the students, the uncertainty of getting employed after school with the long term effect of these dubious tuition fees being felt by both the parents and the students. The provincial government institutions have preferred to use a controlled route where the system is based on assistance measures (Neil, 2014). Students in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano have been forced to turn to loans and grants from corrupt institutions which charge overzealous interests. This is beneficial to the government as they get tax returns from these loans and subsidies, leaving the students in great disappoint however much they may be capable, due to the years they have to work to repay the burden.
The systems create a different strategy where the students only learn in-province due to fixed charges there. However, for those students who intend to pursue a degree outside their provinces, they have to be able to afford it creating non-universality and unequal treatment (Neil, 2014).
Schools Take On the Increase
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) admitted that the enrolment in tertiary institutions has been at an all-time high. The association related these high intakes to the importance of the post-secondary education to students. The association did a research and determined that since 2012 there was a 44% increase in the number of students, who joined University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano post-secondary institutions (Lacobucci, 2015).
The report by the Association indicates that getting a university degree is an essential element in keeping the pace of jobs and emerging trends in the global economy. The report estimates that 75% of employment by the year 2030 will be requiring the skills and experience of post-secondary degrees (Lacobucci, 2015). The post-secondary students in general acquire the most flourishing and stable jobs in the industry, unlike the people without post-secondary education (Neil, 2014). Thus, the institutions try to milk out every penny from the students in the reasoning that the students will recover after their education.
In the year 2013, the Canadian government experienced a debt of $231 million, which came from unsettled student loans distributed over 44,000 cases in the country. The University of Victoria had a percentage of 9% followed by Kwantlen polytechnic university which had 6 % and university of Capilano with 5.8%. This resulted in taxpayers suffering a burden they are not directly affected too. This shows that imposing high tuition fees on the students results in a direct effect on the whole nation if the loans go unpaid (Neil, 2014).
In one case in 2012, tens of thousands of protestors in Montreal took to the streets protesting against the government initiative of increasing the tuition fees in the university of Capilano by an alleged value of 75 % (Lacobucci, 2015).This indicates the lack of control of overzealous tuition fees to the students by institutions. The freedom of coming up with the structure of taxes payment has resulted in molestation of the students without the intervention of the government.
In the research by Stats Canada, a university degree inclusive of the living expenses as well as a cost of books has skyrocketed to a value of $80,000 United States dollars on average in the University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano. This indicates how a student from a low-income family may end up failing to acquire postsecondary education due to such costs in these institutions. The table below shows the average cost about affordability.
Most Expensive Graduate Programs
In the graduate levels, business administration was determined as the most expensive program in the year 2015/2016 representing an average tuition fee of $42, 235 while a master in the same field at a regular level presented a cost of $28, 567 in university of victoria (Usher, 2015). As was the case in undergraduate courses, there was an increase in the expense of these courses by a value of 1% in the degrees in pharmacy and an extraordinary value of 7.2% increase in the business administration-related programs in Masters and other progressive levels (Association of Universities in Canada, 2015).
International Students Tuition Fees
In University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano, an international student is required to pay a little bit more as compared to the local students. According to Lacobucci, in 2015/2016 academic year, the tuition fees for international students increased by 6.5%, to a value of $21, 392 in Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilano (2015). This was predeceased by a tuition fee increase percentage value of 5.3 %.
An average value of tuition fee for the full-time students who were non-Canadian citizens pursuing graduate programs increased by 3.2 % recording a value of $14, 350. The growth for the tuition fees varied from a percentage value of 0.1 % to a value of 12% across the three institutions (Neil, 2014).
Cause ofIncrease inTuition Fees
The charging of differential tuition fees had not been an issue until federal government decided that the implication of differential tuition fees was one of the strategies of generating extra revenue from the institutions. The provincial governments then started taking a direction where they started cutting out the grants to the schools aimed for the international students. This led to the post-secondary institutions developing differential charges on the students, which were quite a baggage for the students in these establishments.
The international students suffer more than the Canadian citizens. Government and, Kwantlen polytechnic university managements know that the international students have little or no say on the policies of the country, and therefore they are easy targets (Lacobucci, 2015). In some of the provinces in Canada, the government has removed the regulation on the amount of fees charged to international students (Lacobucci, 2015). This is a strategy to allow the institutions overcharge international students to cater for the reduced government funding. However, the strategy is still not satisfied as still the Canadian citizen students still suffer the high costs of tuition imposed on them in Kwantlen polytechnic university. Thus differential tuition fees have been viewed as a strategy for these institutions as well as the government in generating revenue (Lacobucci, 2015).
The policy of charging post-secondary international students high differential tuition fees is a liability as the process seems to be getting out of control to the long-term interests of the Canadian society as a whole(Lacobucci, 2015). From research by the federal government, it has been noted that international students who have either worked or studied in University of victoria, Kwantlen polytechnic university and university of Capilanohave the greatest probability of integrating with the community in Canada as well as prospering in their workforce. Therefore the differential tuition fees may be a disadvantage to the long term intention of creating a prosperous, educative and innovative people to the economy (Lacobucci, 2015).
International students have been known to contribute up to $8 billion annually to the economy of Canada; the contributions of these international students can be a significant boost to the economy and reduce the problems of aging labour market in the economy. The three institutions amount to a total of $2.6 billionannually.
The government of Canada also taxes great amounts on the institutions which are in turn carried forward to the students in these institutions. Kwantlen polytechnic university student board were made aware of these charges and therefore sanctions has been made continuously on the government by the students (Lacobucci, 2015). The idea behind fee establishment by management of the institutions is a setback for the fee policies in universities according to the chancellor of the University of Capilano (Usher, 2015). The failure of control by government results in unscrupulous dealings among the management of the institutions in an attempt to reap something from the tuition fees charged.
Recommendation
Measures need to be put in place to ensure that there in not abnormal or cheeky trends in the management of these institutions. This will allow sanity and credibility of the institutions as well as avoid many students being stranded due to enormous fees charged by these establishments.
References
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (2015) Differential tuition fees in Canadian universities. Ottawa: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada = Association des universités et collèges du Canada.
The book focuses in implementing a solution to the increased tuition fees in postsecondary institutions. The association of Universities and colleges come up with strategies and methods which will be used in the implementation of sanity in the tuition fees charged by these institutions.
Lacobucci, F., & Tuohy, C. J. (2015). Taking public universities seriously. Toronto, Ont: University of Toronto Press.
The document by Lacobucci focuses on a review by the government of Ontario where the government intends to develop a post-secondary strategy of funding the institutions to avoid the burden to the students. The topics discussed in this document include the rationale to be used in the funding of public universities, competition among public universities and emerging trends leading to these issues in tuition fees.
Usher, A., Duncan, P., & Educational Policy Institute. (2015). beyond the sticker shock 2008: A closer look at Canadian tuition fees. Toronto: Educational Policy Institute.
Neill, C., & University of Toronto. (2014). Tuition fees and the demand for university places. Toronto, Ont: University of Toronto [Centre for Economics and Public Affairs.
List of Illustrations
FIG2: Comparison of Canadian undergraduate students Tuition Fees Per province.
FIG3: bar graph showing cost of various courses in Canada.
