Students, Not Taxpayers, Should Pay for Tuition

Nathan Shaw:

Have any extra change lying around? Hold onto it, because you’re going to need it. There are few burdens as large on a student’s bottom line as the cost of tuition, and if Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has his way, that bottom line is going to grow next year. To the dismay of students and parents all across the [Ontario] province, McGuinty “quietly” confirmed recently his plans to lift the tuition freeze for 2006-2007.

Good idea.

There are two different sides to which the tuition pendulum can swing when it comes to who pays. One side is the zero-tuition system that exists in countries like France and Sweden, where post-secondary education is funded fully by the government. On the other side is a system where the student pays the entire amount out of their own pocket — a very harsh prospect indeed. Ontario’s system is somewhere in the middle, leaning closer to the former than the latter.

Isn't it odd that the harshness of the tuition is limited to only the students. The taxpayers who, as is pointed out, pay for most of the tuition are basically automated teller machines.

Hands down, the worst model for students from a financial perspective would be a system of deregulation. Deregulated tuition would give each university the ability to set their own tuition rates, independent of provincial government restrictions. While it certainly provides an influx of capital, the harsh reality is that it would allow universities to charge students the maximum price they can — leaving so many students who cannot write a blank cheque out in the cold. Tuition would simply soar.

This is Canada, so leaving someone out in the cold could be deadly! Seriously, the end of government-subsidized tuition would add transparency to the system. At the moment, many students enter university to put a few years between themselves and the real oh-so-harsh life. They shamelessly exit after failing multiple first and second year courses. Do the taxpayers get their money back in such cases? Nope. Do these selfish kids apologize? Nope. Telling the students to take full responsibility for their tuition will deter many of these dim "scholars."

In the end, we'll have less and more motivated students entering the universities. Those who're willing but who can't afford the full tuition will always have the option of loans. Canada, no question, is one of the richest countries in the world. She has the most dynamic and ferocious economy to her south. The Canadian students who graduate with debt can easily pay it off over decades with their earning power. It is simply asinine to subsidize some of the most fortunate and wealthy students in the world.

Do note that the linked opinion piece doesn't argue for helping poor students but recommends paying for a huge chunk of everybody's tuition -- rich, poor, and everyone in between.

A two-tier system where the rich can afford it and the extreme poor get partial subsidies squeezes out the rapidly decreasing middle class. Instead of new debt-management strategies, students need debt reduction, plain and simple. The government must focus on making tuition lower, not simply easier to pay over the long term.

Harry Potter is not running the Canadian government. Otherwise, the government might have been able to make the tuition lower. In reality, the government can only shift the burden of tuition to taxpayers. Is that fair?

Interesting question: if the Canadian taxpayers can collectively provide for most of the tuition of students, then why can't the current students individually pay for their own tuition in the near future via loans?

Ontario need only look to its provincial neighbour next door for a fascinating case study. Quebec undergraduate students continue to pay the lowest fees in the country this year as a result of a continued tuition freeze, leaving the average tuition costs at about $1,900. This is compared with Ontario’s average of over $4,800. Quebecors value true accessibility for their students. Ontario should ask itself whether it truly does too.

Yes, let's look at the provincial neighbor. Quebec has an unemployment rate of 7.7% compared to a 5.9% rate in Ontario. I wonder if the relatively higher taxes (in part to pay for their squalid students) in Quebec have anything to do with their high unemployment rate.

The Premier let the ugly cat out of the bag with his plans to let tuition rise yet again. With over 400,000 college and university students in this province, surely we should be the ones with the upper hand when it comes to negotiating a reasonable tuition fee framework.

"Upper Hand" = Transferring your burden to others.

The consequences come next September will be all too real. You have nothing to lose by speaking up over the tuition increase. It is your future and you will be the ones footing the price tag over which the backroom bureaucrats at Queen’s Park are debating. Let them know what you think. If you don’t speak up, get ready to pay up.

My God! Pay for what you get. That's such a radical idea. The students in Ontario are doomed.

Comments

[slickdpdx]

They probablt think the grad students and non-academic staff should all get paid more too. After all, who could begrudge that aside from a heartless scrooge?

[Isaac Schrödinger]

Indeed, most do think that. But, they don't want their tuition to go up to pay for that. So, what's the solution? Milk the taxpayers, of course.

It doesn't click that their high taxes is a big reason for their best and brightest leaving for the US. By raising the taxes further, they'll accelerate the "brain drain." It's ironic that Canadians pay for most of the tuition for such students who later go on to work in America. It's simply bad policy.