Tuition rant - Part deux

OK, Lemonheads… the votes are in, the polls are closed, and 80% of you have said: tuition hikes in this economic situation are not a good idea!

Now, that means that 20% of you said “it’s OK”. To be fair, I received some good comments… Canada’s education system is a steal, and since the rates of education have not skyrocketed, like they have in other countries, we’re still in pretty good shape. Another comment had to do with the notion that the quality of education simply costs a lot of money, and everyone has to pitch in to ensure we have sustained quality – including the students.

I must admit, the dialogue is exciting. That’s the power of technology! At least this way, we can get people talking and looking for the right solutions to real problems.

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Though I agree that ensuring quality of education should be a joint responsibility between government, academia, and students, it is still in my humble opinion that increasing the cost of tuition – alone – is a completely unfair solution.

The proposal put forward only spoke of tuition hikes, potentially in the realm of 25% over the next couple of years! If the burden has to be shared, I’d like to see the proposals on the other parties before accepting a wide-sweeping tuition hike that will impede the opportunity of many students to attend post-secondary institutions.

One of the comments put forward also had to do with the value of college education; and the (misconstrued) pre-conceived notion that university education is better. University and college education are different - no, not THAT kind of different; just genuinely different. Students must be encouraged, by parents and other societal leaders, to explore what they really want to achieve and then to determine which post-secondary institution is best for them. None-the-less, the proposed “solution” for ensuring quality of education fell squarely on the shoulder of students – of either type of institution.

(If you are an “American Lemonhead”, I just want to clarify that though University and College is nearly an interchangeable term in the US, in Canada the perceived difference is somewhat similar to the difference between a College and a community college.)

Bottom line: before making it harder for students to acquire a post-secondary education, let’s look at a full package solution with a shared burden that is actually shared. This proposal hasn’t gone through yet… perhaps other options are being explored.

One can only hope.

The education rant - WHAT? Tuition hikes!

OK guys... I have to apologize right now, before I get into this text – because, of all the posts, this one will seem more like “improv” than previous posts. And so, with that:


25% Tuition Hike Touted

Um, pardon me? Last I checked the world (not just our precious little country) was undergoing what is all but called a depression! And, last I checked the Ontario Government has a plan in place to reduce poverty in the province by 25% within 5 years. OK – so, that’s an Ontario-only plan, maybe we don’t need to worry about the rest of the country?

Have we absolutely gone mad?? HOW DO OUR GOVERNMENTS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS DARE TELL US THAT EDUCATION HAS TO BE MORE EXPENSIVE? How can you increase fees for education while trying to reduce poverty? It must be nice to be making a six figure salary in the stone towers of Parliament Hill or Queen’s Park and to think that the rest of Canadians can just “pay” for their own, or their kids’, education over and above what it already costs. Craziness!

Meanwhile – and here’s the fun optic – President Obama has made education in the US a priority... committing to making post-secondary education affordable, and committing $53B US to American education institutions and systems; asking Americans to commit to at least 1 year of post-secondary education. So, maybe Canada has a slightly reasonable logic behind this ridiculous imposition (is that even possible?); but Canadians can also tune into NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and even Fox... so, if you think people are just sitting around saying “Oh, OK – let’s pay more for our education”, you’ve lost your mind! Canadians are ticked! They’re saying: “how can a country, that is WAY deeper in debt than us, put a priority on education, and we can sleep at night asking our citizens to pay more!?” Take a look at the 5th bullet on this page of the America Recovery Act.

Now, and when I’m not ranting I’ll spend more time on providing facts about this, in Europe, there are some countries (Scandinavian countries, Greece) who pay for the students’ undergrad degrees – ah, wouldn’t THAT be nice? Some people might question the quality of a “free, public education”, but according to research from the Canadian Council on Learning, we could question our own:

• More than one million Canadians aged 25 to 44 have not completed high school and approximately 1.6 million 16- to 25-year-olds have less than Level 3 literacy, the standard considered the minimum to function effectively in a knowledge-based society such as Canada. (pg.8)


• In 2005, Canada placed 22nd of 26 reporting countries in the share of public expenditures on PSE. At 55.1%, Canada’s share was well below the OECD average of 73.1% and the EU average of 82.5%. (pg.10)


• In 2005-2006, nearly 350,000 full-time students received close to $2 billion in financial aid from the Canada Student Loans Program. (pg.10)


• Undergraduate tuition fees increased 36.4% between 2000–2001 and 2008–2009. Since 1996–1997, the rise in undergraduate tuition costs has exceeded the rise in the Consumer Price Index every school year except 2005–2006. (pg.10)


• Both the number of students borrowing, and the average amounts they borrowed have increased substantially in recent years. (pg.10)

It’s ALL ridiculous, and I hope the people from the “educational think-tank”, the non-profit Educational Policy Institute, are reading this! If you are – check this out (and, FYI – I am educated... and in debt because of the loans you claim I didn't need):

WE ARE ON THE BRINK!

We are on the brink of taxing and imposing costs on my country’s future for the mistakes of my country’s past. Ah – go for it, call me a “typically complaining and unhappy Gen X’er – I won’t be offended (for once)!

NO!! Canadian families cannot afford increases in their children’s tuitions – they’re losing their jobs!
NO!! Students can’t find part-time jobs as easily as you ($100K+ folks) think; the jobs – if the companies aren’t closing – are being given to those parents who are losing their jobs!
NO!! Canadians won’t stand for your recommendations; and I can only HOPE that our Governments won’t cave to such ridiculous pressures!

If we want a strong future for OUR country, and for OUR culture, and for OUR youth – then THIS is not the way to go! Talk to students, talk to families and talk to people – you may be enlightened to find out that they’re not interested in tuition hikes.

And, I’d also like to go on record as saying that I do understand the important value of post-secondary institutions. Believe me, I’m probably one of the biggest fans.

But, if you turn these institutions into country clubs for rich kids, then what kind of vision are you building for the future of this country? My Country! And, yours too – right?