Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Editorial: Give students a tuition break

Here is a contrast in values we should consider. Tuition fees at the University of Victoria for a degree in the humanities stand at about $24,000. The comparable fee at public universities in Germany is zero.

Here is a contrast in values we should consider. Tuition fees at the University of Victoria for a degree in the humanities stand at about $24,000. The comparable fee at public universities in Germany is zero.

The University of British Columbia charges approximately $29,000 for a commerce degree. Undergraduate programs at many state-run universities in France cost $1,000.

The same marked difference applies across much of Europe. Most European countries offer post-secondary education at far more generous prices than we do.

The comparison isn’t exact: Entrance requirements are less rigorous in Canada, meaning more people attend university.

Nevertheless, our high-cost strategy has glaring deficiencies. One is the crippling debt load. Students graduate from university in B.C. owing an average of $35,000.

Worse still, the fixed interest charge on student loans is 7.5 per cent. That’s close to loan-sharking.

But this reveals the mindset of our politicians when it comes to post-secondary education — squeeze students till the pips squeak. And B.C. is one of the worst offenders.

Over the period from 2000 to 2013, provincial operating grants to B.C. universities grew by 38 per cent — the third lowest in the country and well below the national average of 60 per cent.

Yet over the same period, the number of students attending universities in this province doubled — the largest expansion nationwide. That’s great news; it shows our kids understand the need for higher education.

But faced with a huge increase in enrolment, and a much smaller lift in funding, our universities have only two choices.

They can economize, which usually means larger class sizes and proportionately fewer professors. And this has in fact occurred, with a detrimental effect on quality.

The second option is to reach further into students’ pockets. This, too, has been done.

The province’s advanced education minister, Andrew Wilkinson, defends his government’s record. Annual tuition fee hikes, he notes, have been capped at two per cent since 2005.

But this is too late. University fees have doubled in B.C. over the past two decades, and that’s before inflation is added. In effect, the breaking point had already been reached before restraints were finally imposed.

We continually hear politicians promising to “grow the economy,” especially around election time. In truth, there is little Canadian governments, federal or provincial, can do to alter world economic trends.

Blue-collar jobs in construction, manufacturing, textiles and the garment industry are fleeing our shores in search of cheaper labour. The energy and mineral sectors are beset by price declines and weakened markets.

Here in B.C., the dream of a major LNG plant looks ever more unrealistic.

There was no mention of post-secondary education in Tuesday’s provincial throne speech.

Yet what conceivable public interest can there be in burdening kids with massive loans? How can we justify turning away even one student because fees are too high?

What we should be doing is making higher education and skills training available to every youngster, regardless of family wealth.

Yes, this will be expensive. The province’s universities raise about $1 billion annually in tuition fees.

It might cost roughly half that amount — $500 million — to eliminate fees for low-income students, and give everyone else a break.

Yet phased in over three years, the province could probably find this money within its projected budget surpluses. And what other choice is there?

Realistically, this is almost the only practical option we have to help our kids succeed.

Canada’s past was built on natural resources. But the future rests with our young people and the training they receive.