The Human Condition: Tuition fees

By DR. DANIEL SCHNEE on March 29, 2023.

The University of Alberta recently raised its tuition fees for both domestic and international students. This means that starting this fall, students will have to pay an extra 5.5 per cent, an extra 6.5 per cent being paid by most international students starting in 2024. This also includes adjustments based on whether one is a thesis or course-based graduate student, whether they enrolled prior to 2020, etc.

Understandably, students such as Tiffany Hung – a member of the grassroots student group Halt The Hike – promised to continue fighting such changes, stating,”a lot of us have to skip meals in order to pay rent,” and “if they want to fund the future, they have to fund the students.”

Having spent decades either studying or teaching at university I can understand her concerns. I once had to choke down a revolting combination of blueberry granola and cheese spread over a four day weekend, just to have the calories necessary to make it to my next paycheck. But Hung’s assertion that such institutions in Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and so on need to fund the students for our future is not exactly accurate.

For example, there was recently found to be a clear and statistical “brain drain” of high performing university grads to the United States from Ontario’s universities. Once any number of domestic and international students completed their studies they found high paying jobs in New England for example, or back in their home countries. So their government’s answer to funding their future was to increase the number of graduate students, which they assumed would increase the likelihood of more graduates remaining in the province.

The result was that faculty wages did not rise, and professors were completely overloaded with advisory requirements for new Ph.D. students. Thus, in order to help professors cope, many vital graduate requirements were dropped and (after a retirement) tenured professorships were terminated, segmented, then “farmed out” to any number of graduate students who were then paid a tiny fraction of the professor’s former salary. Thus, the drive to fund Ontario’s future resulted in fewer professors, even more poverty amongst graduate students, lower educational standards, tuition rates still rising due to inflation, and continuing brain drain.

Alberta’s tuition hikes, student poverty and such are complex, intermingled problems requiring a sophisticated solution. But thankfully there is one significant and immediate step we all can take – contacting the Student’s Association of Medicine Hat College, and asking how to assist with their confidential food bank program. There are always a surprising variety of needs you can help with, and asking the association about their priority items guarantees students will have exactly what they need to study and graduate successfully.

We the public don’t have much control over tuition hikes and such, but we absolutely can work toward keeping graduating students in Alberta, i.e. building our future through our students. We Hatters are no-nonsense people, with a fierce belief in ourselves. But we are also generous, and could easily solve any food or financial problem MHC students have. It is a challenge that is easily conquered.

The students may never know our face or our name, but they will never forget how we make them feel. A full belly feels really good.