According to Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” However, with the rising cost of education all throughout Canada, who exactly can afford to obtain post-secondary education? Is cost limiting the number of people who go on to get a Certificate, Diploma or Degree?
How much does university cost anyway? The University of British Columbia has a helpful estimator of what your first year at university would cost. A Bachelor of Arts program for a Canadian student living in a shared room at the Vancouver campus would be $23,081 for their first year of university. The program is 4 years long, so their total cost of going to university would amount to a whopping $92,324. The total cost of attending university is $34,248 in course fees alone. That is why so many students resort to working part-time while going to school - just so that they can afford a place to live and food to eat.
So why does going to university cost so much? According to an article in the Vancouver Sun by Claudia Hepburn, “Because students who attend university are destined to be the highest earners in our societies, it is only reasonable that they should shoulder a reasonable portion of their education expenses.”
According to Statistics Canada, to be in the top 10% of income earners in 2010, you would be earning at least $6,700 a month. If you lived in a small apartment in Vancouver and travelled only via public transportation, your cost of living including taxes would be $5,086. Assuming you were able to get a student loan for the total amount of going to university, $92,324 charged at an interest rate of 8.95% over the longest repayment period possible at 10 years means a payment of $1,167 per month. At the end of the month, you will be left with $447. While it sound plausible, you need to be in the top 10% of earners, lead a dull and boring life and have nothing unfortunate ever happen to you. This is not a realistic situation.
Hepburn’s argument assumes that university graduates earn the highest income, but the reality shows otherwise. The Education Policy Research Initiative study has found that Bachelor’s Degree graduates had an average monthly income of $3,766 in their first year out of school, growing to $6,241 over the span of 8 years. According to this data, most would not be able to start repaying their student loans fresh out of school. So why does Canada continue to charge such exorbitant amounts for something that is a basic need in today’s day and age, when countries like Germany, Norway and Finland are offering free university education?
If Canada wants to be proud of the fact that it is the most educated country in the world, it needs to find ways to ensure its workforce does not end up swimming in student debt. It needs to make it affordable for post-secondary students to go to school full-time without working 20 hours a week just to make ends meet. The only way to achieve this is to make tuition free. Maybe if Canadians were to enter the workforce without the burden of debt, they would be able to change the world.
Sources:
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/tuition-woes
https://www.independent.co.uk/student/study-abroad/free-university-education-courses-study-abroad-brexit-erasmus-students-germany-copenhagen-france-a7457576.html
https://www.costofliving.welcomebc.ca/
http://tools.canlearn.ca/cslgs-scpse/cln-cln/crp-lrc/af.nlindex-eng.do
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-014-x/99-014-x2011003_2-eng.cfm
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/07/the-10-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/education-pays-new-study-shows-average-salaries-by-degree-diploma-1.3003341
https://you.ubc.ca/financial-planning/cost/
How much does university cost anyway? The University of British Columbia has a helpful estimator of what your first year at university would cost. A Bachelor of Arts program for a Canadian student living in a shared room at the Vancouver campus would be $23,081 for their first year of university. The program is 4 years long, so their total cost of going to university would amount to a whopping $92,324. The total cost of attending university is $34,248 in course fees alone. That is why so many students resort to working part-time while going to school - just so that they can afford a place to live and food to eat.
So why does going to university cost so much? According to an article in the Vancouver Sun by Claudia Hepburn, “Because students who attend university are destined to be the highest earners in our societies, it is only reasonable that they should shoulder a reasonable portion of their education expenses.”
According to Statistics Canada, to be in the top 10% of income earners in 2010, you would be earning at least $6,700 a month. If you lived in a small apartment in Vancouver and travelled only via public transportation, your cost of living including taxes would be $5,086. Assuming you were able to get a student loan for the total amount of going to university, $92,324 charged at an interest rate of 8.95% over the longest repayment period possible at 10 years means a payment of $1,167 per month. At the end of the month, you will be left with $447. While it sound plausible, you need to be in the top 10% of earners, lead a dull and boring life and have nothing unfortunate ever happen to you. This is not a realistic situation.
Hepburn’s argument assumes that university graduates earn the highest income, but the reality shows otherwise. The Education Policy Research Initiative study has found that Bachelor’s Degree graduates had an average monthly income of $3,766 in their first year out of school, growing to $6,241 over the span of 8 years. According to this data, most would not be able to start repaying their student loans fresh out of school. So why does Canada continue to charge such exorbitant amounts for something that is a basic need in today’s day and age, when countries like Germany, Norway and Finland are offering free university education?
If Canada wants to be proud of the fact that it is the most educated country in the world, it needs to find ways to ensure its workforce does not end up swimming in student debt. It needs to make it affordable for post-secondary students to go to school full-time without working 20 hours a week just to make ends meet. The only way to achieve this is to make tuition free. Maybe if Canadians were to enter the workforce without the burden of debt, they would be able to change the world.
Sources:
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/tuition-woes
https://www.independent.co.uk/student/study-abroad/free-university-education-courses-study-abroad-brexit-erasmus-students-germany-copenhagen-france-a7457576.html
https://www.costofliving.welcomebc.ca/
http://tools.canlearn.ca/cslgs-scpse/cln-cln/crp-lrc/af.nlindex-eng.do
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-014-x/99-014-x2011003_2-eng.cfm
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/07/the-10-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/education-pays-new-study-shows-average-salaries-by-degree-diploma-1.3003341
https://you.ubc.ca/financial-planning/cost/
I totally agree with you. I really appreciate how you researched the numbers and data surrounding the expenses of post-secondary education. It is very revealing how expensive it is to start out after education is over and how long it actually takes to pay off a student loan (and really how unforgiving it is.)
ReplyDeleteDo you think the student loan program should remain even if tuition is abolished? That way if students are struggling with living expenses during their education they will have some way of making ends meet? Or do you think this will still be problematic once tertiary education is complete?
I couldn't agree more with the research you conducted which shows the severe measures of austerity that students must impose upon themselves in order to further their careers and get ahead in life. It truly is a miserable few years, something to which many of us can attest.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is very shortsighted of the government not to collect more from the tax-payer to help out the students of today. After all, the tax-payers of today will one day be dependent welfare and pensions. As students take up positions of power in the future, they may remember the treatment by their elders unfavorably .