U of W hikes student rates 6 to 10% over two years
University of Windsor students are going to endure a little more financial pain over the next two years to get the long-term gain of earning a degree.
Domestic undergraduate students, depending on their program, face tuition increases of six to 10 per cent over that time span.
In total, students will pay $9.5 million more in tuition fees in 2017-18 than this year.
“We’re all concerned about the cost,” university president Alan Wildeman said Tuesday.
“At the same time, there’s a recognition that a university education is a great investment.”
In non-professional programs, tuition will increase three per cent in each of the next two years. Those in programs such as business, computer science, law and engineering face five per cent increases each year.
For first-year domestic students, the increases range from about $200 per year in social work to nearly $900 per year for law. There’s also hikes in some ancillary fees and meal plans.
Fees for international students will increase by 6.5 to eight per cent per year. There’s no provincial cap on international tuition fee increases.
“They don’t even try to justify it to students, they just do it every year,” said Michelle Ao, a fourthyear social work student.
In an era when inflation has averaged 1.3 per cent since 2013, students are questioning why their tuition is rising at nearly three times that rate or more.
“We have had basically no increase in government grants,” Wildeman said. “As an institution, as at every university, your costs go up because of salaries, wages and benefits. There’s increases there that have to be allowed for.
“Every university is trying to provide more services for students. If you go across the sector, every university is seeing their costs increase by three, four, five per cent a year.
“A lot of it is driven by the cost of people.”
Salaries, wages and benefits account for 77 per cent of the university’s $267-million budget for 2017-18.
However, what has students most concerned is the rising percentage of the school’s operating revenue they represent.
Student tuition will account for 61.2 per cent or $157.3 million of the $267-million budget.
In contrast, government grants will only provide 36.9 per cent of the budget. That’s a decrease of about two per cent.
Matthew Dunlop, University of Windsor Student Alliance vicepresident for student advocacy, claims students are reaching the breaking point.
“The government used to fund about 75 per cent of university, but it’s been a steady decrease over the past 15 or 20 years,” Dunlop said.
“It should be a shared responsibility, but students are carrying most of the load.”
He added students fear all the tuition caps for domestic students will soon disappear.
“International students are becoming a cash cow for the university,” Dunlop said. “We’re afraid, going forward, that’ll happen to domestic students.” Dunlop estimated student debt across Canada is around $28 billion.
Ao said she has accumulated a debt of $15,000 to $20,000 earning her degree, yet considers herself fortunate.
“I was lucky to live at home,” Ao said. “I know people who have two or three times that debt.
“Trying to find a job knowing there’s that debt is very stressful. It’s hard to get your life started.”
To help Ontario students, who pay the highest tuition fees in Canada, the province has created one of the most generous student-aid programs in the country. The Liberal government is also introducing free tuition for students from families that have an income of $50,000 or less.
However, other education tax credits have been eliminated to balance out the cost of the free tuition program.
“We (students) have to get organized,” said Massey graduate Mohamed Almoayad, who carries $25,000 in debt. “We don’t feel like the province or the universities care about us.”