Tuition Dispute
But this time, the university administration and the students' union are on the same side.
A recent press release from CFS Ontario claimed that a number of universities in Ontario were poised to raise tuition fees well above the 5% limit set by the provincial government in March 2006. Among the universities cited were the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and Lakehead University.
However, in a joint press release issued by the Lakehead University Students' Union (CFS Local 32) and Lakehead University, the Presidents of Lakehead and of it's Students' Union refuted this claim. They said that Lakehead was only planning increases in the range of 3.9% to 4.5%, "well below the 5% average cap established by the McGuinty government." The issue has also come to the attention of the local media.
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UPDATE (2006-07-25): LUSU has since issued a press release with the title "Lakehead University Student Union Stands in Solidarity with the Canadian Federation of Students." Seeking to "clarify" its earlier joint press release, LUSU reaffirmed its "alliance" with the Federation and noted that while they continued to believe that "Lakehead University is doing the best job it can under this difficult provincial regulation," LUSU nonetheless supported the Federation's goals of "lowered tuition fees." This press release also questioned the use of the term "market value" to characterize tuition fees, even though this term was used in their original joint press release.
But this time, the university administration and the students' union are on the same side.
A recent press release from CFS Ontario claimed that a number of universities in Ontario were poised to raise tuition fees well above the 5% limit set by the provincial government in March 2006. Among the universities cited were the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, and Lakehead University.
However, in a joint press release issued by the Lakehead University Students' Union (CFS Local 32) and Lakehead University, the Presidents of Lakehead and of it's Students' Union refuted this claim. They said that Lakehead was only planning increases in the range of 3.9% to 4.5%, "well below the 5% average cap established by the McGuinty government." The issue has also come to the attention of the local media.
......
UPDATE (2006-07-25): LUSU has since issued a press release with the title "Lakehead University Student Union Stands in Solidarity with the Canadian Federation of Students." Seeking to "clarify" its earlier joint press release, LUSU reaffirmed its "alliance" with the Federation and noted that while they continued to believe that "Lakehead University is doing the best job it can under this difficult provincial regulation," LUSU nonetheless supported the Federation's goals of "lowered tuition fees." This press release also questioned the use of the term "market value" to characterize tuition fees, even though this term was used in their original joint press release.
7 Comments:
What's your point? Universities realized a long time ago that sky-rocketing tuition was repelling an increasing number of an increasingly smaller student-pool. Caring about the cost of the institution falls under the "marketing" department of any self-respecting institution. Those who think that raising tuition is a good way to attract students, especially when all demographic studies are pointing to a smaller pool of students graduating from high school, aren't liable to be around very much longer.
Just some thoughts.
I call fedhead on this guy.
I think the point is that the Federation lied again and this time the local students union stood up to the Federation.
It is very newsworthy.
Of course, you have probably been in the federation too long to see all it many faults.
Wow, my institution must be very confused then.
Just a note to defend myself: I'm not a fedhead. I'm actually in the student press (yup, the enemy) and have a bit of an addiction to news. I make this comment after having interviewed several hundred university officials across five or six provinces and studying the demographics of students (especially in the maritime provinces) in preparation for a feature story on the state of university education in the Atlantic Provinces.
The fact is that the boomers are retiring and their kids aren't having as many kids. Farm families with lots of kids are on the decline and the whole education system is seeing a decline in enrollment from high school on to post secondary. Nearly every university in the country (with the exception of some of the larger institutions who have more wiggle room and the University of Manitoba which recently announced a surplus of students) is experiencing difficulty recruiting new bodies to fill their quota and their budgets.
Basic calculus curve shows that there is a maximum amount of money that you can charge before you begin to drive away customers (students). Canadian universities are beginning to realize that they are reaching that maximum limit. Even the liberal leadership candidates are debating how they can help with the soaring costs of post-secondary (though it's not listed on the conservative platform's priorities).
Increasingly, as universities look for new ways to recruit students, being able to show (or pretend to show) that administrators have students needs at heart by increasing tuition well below the limit isn't necessarily showing that they have this sudden respect for the SU, but rather a clever marketing ploy. If you check out the MacLean's rankings in the fall, I'm willing to bet they'll make a fuss of it there as well.
Yeah, the CFS either lied or had their facts mixed up in a jumble when they made that claim. But Lakehead already had their plan in motion by that point and used the CFS release to their advantage - it blostered their marketing department even more since they had one more piece of ammo to set themselves apart from other Ontario schools and, let's face it, Lakehead needs to have some good publicity now and then.
Just some thoughts.
w3
You better keep doing your research on your piece since your numbers don't add up. Enrolment is up across the country. You are confusing a few anecdotal stories – University of Manitoba – with fact. It has been increasing for the past 5 years. The university system has added 250,000 new students.
The birthrate maybe declining, but the demand for education is growing. More people want and get it now. There is little that will change that, especially in a global economy.
Your *cost* points make little sense since you assume that there is no student aid. Tuition is a sticker price, to borrow your consumer analogy. The majority of students don't actually pay that amount once aid is factored in - loans, grants and tax credits. You have fallen victim to the cost bogeyman.
In Ontario, there has never been a better time to be a student in college or university that qualifies for full financial aid. Although tuition fees have gone up between 4%-8%, the amount of financial aid available in the form of grants has gone through the roof, thanks mostly to a lack of coordination between federal and provincial debt relief programs. Here is a typical situation for an independant student qualifying for full OSAP (Financial Aid)
- Student receives $11,900 for two semisters
- If the student finishes both semisters, they receive debt relief to $6500 (assuming the receipt of a Millennium Scholarship), a cool tax free grant (on the federal side anyway) of $5,400.
- Add the tax credits provided by the federal government for tuition (say $4300 for a university student) and the monthly allowance of $433 per month as a full time student. That totals a net tax refund of around $1250.
- Add any entrance scholarships, needs based bursuries (which you would surely qualify for as a student on OSAP). Let's say $500.
That is a net beneift of $7150.
Has paying people to go to school increased enrolment? You bet.
Although applications were down in the Ontario college and university system over last year, converstions are up around 5%. The majority of students that do not listen to the "fedheads" idiotic claims about the cost of education have realized that there is nothing wrong with getting paid to go to school.
I think that the major problem is the lack of people that will inform future high-school graduates about offers and what those offers really have to offer to a scholarship student. Although we live in times where the computer offers so much information, there are still youngsters that have no idea about that.
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University of Phoenix
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