Lies

Brought to you by the Emily Carr Student Union

LIE: The tuition fee reduction is affecting the
quality of my education.

The truth: Federal government funding cutbacks
to post-secondary education have affected the
quality of our education. Since 1993, the federal
government has cut $7 billion from higher educa-
tion and training in Canada. From 1980 to 1996
(the first year of the tuition fee freeze) tuition fees
in BC more than doubled and classroom sizes
increased, class waitlists became a problem and
less funding was available for library acquisitions
and counseling services. Students need to work
with faculty and administrators to lobby the gov-
ernment for funding and convince the public that
spending tax dollars on post-secondary education
is a wise investment.

LIE: If tuition fees go up, the quality of my
education will improve.

The truth: In Ontario, where tuition fees have
been increasing each year and are now $2,500
higher than BC, the quality of education has been
declining. Each year, Maclean's Magazine con-
ducts research on the quality of universities in
Canada. For the past four years, Simon Fraser
University and the University of Victoria have
always ranked in the top five, often in the number
one position. Last year, the sixth year of the tuition
fee freeze, BC universities as a whole rose in the
rankings. Last year, for the first time, Maclean’s
also surveyed colleges and university-colleges
and the result was that BC was singled out and
praised for its community college system.

Higher tuition fees don't always mean more

money for education. In other provinces, money
raised through tuition fee increases hasn't even
made up for provincial cuts to funding, cuts that

administrators in BC have only recently faced as
a result of the current provincial governments
announcement to freeze funding for three years.
This amounts to a cutback because the cost of
inflation has not been taken into account.

LIE: It is only natural that tuition fees should
increase, that’s why only BC has reduced
tuition fees while the other provinces are
increasing them.

The truth: BC is the third province to reduce
tuition fees following the Manitoba governments
10% reduction, and Newfoundland’s reduction of
25% over the next three years. BC now has the
second lowest tuition fees in the country (Quebec
has the lowest). Many jurisdictions in the United
States and Europe are also freezing and reducing
tuition fees.

In the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), of which Canada is a
member, the following countries do not charge
tuition fees: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland,
Holland, France, Germany, Austria and Greece.
Ireland abolished tuition fees in 1995-96 and has
become a leader in the European high tech sec-
tor on the back of investment in colleges and uni-
versities and elimination of fees.

LIE: The tuition fee reduction won't really
make a difference in students’ lives.

The truth: Statistics show that up-front user fees
are a dominating impediment to accessibility.
According to a survey prepared for the Advanced
Education Council of B.C. and the University
Presidents’ Council of B.C., nearly half of British
Columbians believe that current tuition fee levels

at B.C. universities and colleges are too high. In a
recent study, UBC Economics Professor Robert
Allen concludes that higher fees will simply over
charge students for their educations and, in the
process, reduce access on the part of those who
have to borrow to attend. Moreover, the study’s
calculations show that both university and college
students already pay the full cost of their higher
education through the higher taxes they pay after
graduation.

LIE: Administrators know what’s best for stu-
dents and they say fees need to go up.

The truth: Administrators have a number of
responsibilities - providing accessible, high quality
education are just two of them, and they aren’t
necessarily the priority for new funding.

Unfortunately, the administrators who are calling
for increases in tuition fees are out of touch with
the realities facing students today. When most
administrators went to university, tuition fees
were less than one-quarter of what they are today
and student debt loads were virtually nonexistent.
Today, students and youth have the highest unem-
ployment levels of this century and the wages
they are earning don’t allow for savings.

Some administrators suggest that more bursaries
and scholarships will protect poorer students
from higher tuition fees. This just isn’t true. Only
the most needy and the most academically suc-
cessful qualify for scholarships and bursaries.
Besides - how can you ask someone to plan their
life on the basis of knowing that they might be eli-
gible for the aid they need.

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