COVID-19’s Attack on Our Education: Can and Should Tuition be Reduced for an Online Term?
Vanessa Ellia, Print Staff Writer
July 22, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has managed to turn our world upside down in a matter of months, ravaging economies everywhere and having a measured effect across a multitude of industries. Amidst the hysteria that this pandemic has generated, one of the biggest topics of interest in the matter has been its impact on education. With students all across Canada having their in-person classes cut short and carried to the end remotely, everything seemed to work as smoothly as one would expect in this situation. However, with the new school year rapidly approaching, questions and concerns appear to be arising yet again, especially with regards to post-secondary studies.
All across social media, there has been an outbreak of concern surrounding tuition costs and whether they will be reduced as more and more universities issue announcements that courses will be offered online for the fall term. As of May 2020, the University of Waterloo, Queen’s University, Carleton University, and many others have released statements indicating that the upcoming fall term will be held remotely, but none of these schools have made any formal statements regarding tuition costs. Despite the avoidance of this topic from universities, people all across Canada seem to share the same questions: Will I be able to afford tuition this year? Is it fair to pay the same amount for online classes as I would for in-person? Will I be receiving a partial refund for the abrupt end to my previous school year? One by one, students have taken it upon themselves to speak up against the silence of schools through various forms of protest.
CTV News has reported that a group of 15 students from Quebec have applied to file a class action lawsuit against their universities for a partial refund of their last term tuition. Countless petitions have also been launched by students in an effort to receive partial refunds for their tuition along with urging their universities to reduce the costs for the upcoming term. These actions have spread like wildfire, as the number of measures taken against universities increase every passing day.
Even with the lawsuits and petitions, people still fear it will not be enough. Students all across the media have expressed their concerns for the quality of online courses and whether they will be able to receive the same level of education they would in person. Furthermore, attention has been brought to the fact that not all courses will be made easily convertible to online methods, since many require resources like labs, special equipment, and materials that are not accessible out of a class environment. With all of this anxiety, it is no surprise that according to a survey commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Students, 30% of new and returning students said they may change their plans for the fall term.
In an effort to provide students with some relief, the Government of Canada has initiated a Canadian Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) that provides eligible students with monthly payments starting at $1250. As per the Government of Canada website, the number of approved applications is 478,399 as of May 29, 2020, which unfortunately means that many students across Canada are not receiving government relief funds; including international students who are ineligible for CESB. With a loss of the majority of jobs due to the pandemic, combined with not receiving government relief, many students receiving their post-secondary education in Canada fear for how they will manage paying their upcoming tuition.
Though tuition costs have always been an issue, the COVID-19 pandemic appears only to have made the matter worse. The reality is that university undergrad tuition averages at $6,463 a year for domestic students and $29,714 for international students. As much as people have complained of these numbers, tuition prices have always been justified by schools who argue that they pay for the staff, student groups, and the ample on-campus resources and amenities.
For most students, the fight is not strictly limited to the belief that they deserve reduced tuition and the complaints of how expensive it is, but also that universities appear to have the ability to afford doing so. As a result of the social distancing regulations by the government, universities have been forced to close their campuses, and therefore layoff staff. U of Lethbridge is only one of the many universities all across Canada that have had to lay off staff; with 183 casual, research and student employees as of March 2020[7]. With campus closures resulting in the loss of need for campus staff, this would mean that the many amenities, resources, food, and other aspects that are offered in person have also been discontinued, leading people to wonder: Where will tuition money be allocated to instead? Why not put it towards reducing the costs for the online term?
It is hard to say exactly what will happen with tuition costs, and the online term experience as a whole. All students can do for now is remain updated through websites such as University Affairs, and sign petitions in hopes that schools and the government will hear our pleas and do something. With each passing day bringing us closer to the fall term, all heads are turning to postsecondary institutions to see what they will justify maintained tuition to pay for besides our earbuds plugged into our devices.