Not long ago, UBC announced that starting in 2015, the newly accepted international undergraduates would be paying a 10% increase in tuition fees and a 20% increase in housing and food services. There is little evidence as to why increases in fees are necessary, but the proposed reasons are as follows:
- University of Toronto and McGill University has increased its international tuition fees by an average of 64% and 49% respectively by degree program, and
- To invest in residence growth and student experience.
UBC’s reasoning behind why increases in fees are deemed necessary is, in my opinion, unjustifiable. UBC refuses to release its concrete intentions of increasing tuition fees, and basically says, “since UofT and McGill are doing it, we should do it too to ‘stay competitive'”. It is extremely unfair for the international students to have to pay more on top of what they are already paying, especially without any good reasoning.
International students are already obligated to pay three-to-five times more in terms of tuition and housing fees than Canadian students, and increasing those amounts by 10% and 20% is going to make studying abroad in Vancouver a lesser option. I believe that until UBC generates a plan on what the money is going to be used for and how it will benefit students, I will not agree with the school’s unfair actions.
Resources:
BREAKING: UBC to Increase International Tuition by 10% and Residence Fees by 20%