Germany has officially stripped their tuition fees for post-secondary students, following many other European countries.  This all began in 2006, first lowering tuition costs to around $1,409 CAD and eventually completely stripping of all fees.

“McCormick believes the German case is an example of the power of student organizing to pressure governments.” (Freeman, 2014)  In Canada, undergrads pay an average of $5,959 per year, and that’s not even including residence fees or textbooks.  There is lots of debate of whether tuition should be free or not.  Some Canadians argue that this would be a huge burden on the tax system and it would diminish quality of eduction, also that Canadian tuition is already largely subsidized.  However others believe that “university enrolment is dominated by upper-class students.” (Baglow, 2014)

As a student, it is a dream come true for free tuition.  The cons are understandable, but I believe the good outweigh’s the bad.  A very large argument seems to be the high tax aspect, although I think that many Canadians would happily pay more on taxes if they could let their kids go to school for free.  Also with more people attending university, there would be increases in incomes and the tax burden would become less.  Lower income families could also send their children to school without any worries.  I don’t see Canada following Germany in the soon foreseeable future, although it is a hope that they may take small steps towards it.