University students struggle to pay mounting costs

BRANTFORD, Ont. – On Sept. 24, 2009 students, faculty and employees of the University of California staged a system wide walkout protesting an ongoing issue in North America and around the world: the significant increase in the cost of post secondary education. Nearly a year later, the trend continues as institutions raise their tuition fees yet again.

                Students have been feeling an increasing financial instability for decades as they enter post secondary education. Suddenly their education which had once been virtually free costs them thousands of dollars. Fees for textbooks and other resources pile on top and should they attend a school out of their hometown thousands more dollars are added in residence fees. Why are students feeling this pinch? Simply because those that strongly supported the funding of universities in the past are not anymore.

                After the Second World War the Canadian government briefly considered removing university fees entirely. Although this never occurred, costs were substantially lower than present day. During the late 1970s and 1980s the government provided nearly 85 per cent of university revenue while tuition covered 13.7 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. In 2007, the government only provided 57.1 per cent of revenue and 34.2 percent of universities revenue came directly from tuition fees charged to students.  Over the course of three decades government support of university revenue has decreased by nearly 28 per cent, and the cost paid by the average student has increased by 20 per cent. This change in provider of revenue has directly attributed to the increase in tuition. Universities, like any institution, are a business. They must make enough to pay their employees and provide the services they offer.

                It is clear how students feel about the high costs of education fees. In the 2008/09 school year, more than 226,000 students took advantage of government run programs such as the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Others sought out independently funded scholarships and bursaries, applied for loans from financial institutions or relied on the kindness of their families. According to the Ontario Student Assistance Program, university students completing their degree in 2007/08 had debt totalling $25,000 or more. Others were not able to finish their education because they could no longer afford the tuition. Ashley Fazekas, a first year Journalism student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford says she feels her “parents need to contribute to university funding, only because they have always told me that they would pay for it, and I wasn't financially prepared to pay for it myself.” Fazekas however points out that the cost of university although cumbersome can provide motivation for students to attend classes and complete the assigned work as repeating a course would cost extra money.

                The enthusiastic attempts of UC Berkeley students to gain media attention about the struggles of being a post-secondary student could be leading to similar protests at many other universities in North America. Fazekas says, “to support others who feel strongly about university costs, I would participate in a protest.”  The demonstration at UC Berkeley and the meagre results they received may become the inspiration for other protests against post-secondary costs. If there’s something a university student knows it’s that every penny counts.