scrubbedexpat091

Some students can't afford to live on campus or move from home, and some students live a good distance from the nearest school with private car the only option.

Students in Squamish (if you can't afford the private university) have 2 choices for college, move to where the school is or commute to Vancouver each day by car, no other option, so I would say a car is essential to the students education here.

Shard

The nature of money and earnings will have to change. It is already underway.

dbd33

Not if they're bright. They can apply to George Brown College, move to Toronto and commute to the school by subway. If they're less talented then they can do the same with UBC or Dalhousie and a bus or no end of other schools with buses and trams.

Granted that if Squamish hosts the world's leading school for their chosen subject then that's more difficult.

scrubbedexpat091

Pretty sure moving to Toronto and paying rent would cost more then living at home with parents and having a car.

Not everyone has the financial means to move away from home while in school nor have parents who can contribute to university or college costs and living at home is the only viable option while in school.

The university here is useless for the most part, a private liberal arts place but considering the costs to go there is like 35k a year, still cheaper to have a car and commute.

dbd33

"living at home with parents and having a car" is not what education should be about.

scrubbedexpat091

Education means different things to different people, for some it's about nothing but learning for others it's to gain a skill to enter the force and have better employment options.

For those not fortunate to have wealthy parents who can assist with paying the costs associated with school, the only way some can even go to school is by being able to live at home and not need to pay for housing costs, and I see nothing negative for a student to stay with parents while in school if the parents offer to provide that sort of help.

Why move across the country to get an education when one can stay near family and obtain the same education but with a car which is cheaper then moving across the country and paying inflated housing costs on campus.

Education means different things to different people, as long as learning has taken place, the person has been educated.

For someone like me education in history or some random subject would be utterly useless, but learning a skill to become employable would be useful. In both scenarios the person has been educated, but in different ways.

Howefamily

I am curious.... What should it be about then?

dbd33

Growing up. And that means moving out on your own, ideally far from your family, and trying all those things you wouldn't at home. A colleague summed it up quite well, I think, when his daughter chose McGill over commuting to the UofT "she can learn some French, be with people of different cultures; she doesn't need to live and breathe Asian, we're already Asian".

Different for a mature student of course, they like already know all about doing laundry and being on time for the bus despite the hang over.

scrubbedexpat091

I was doing all that in high school....lol

My parents were always at work, so we had to be independent and do our own laundry, most of our meal prep, getting to/from the bus to get to/from school and so on.

Minus paying rent and hangover. Also had to figure out ways to get to work if my parents were not available but they would take me when they could.

Now I entered the workforce directly out of high school (well was already in it, just worked more after HS) so having to choose a college/university to go to was not something I had to do, no university on the planet would have accepted me from high school. Best I could do was local community college, but can't live on campus nor have the same experiences since CC is basically like HS but with college level courses.

Howefamily

It's a nice idea to have your child out in the world during HE learning life etc etc whilst obtaining that masters degree but sometimes that choice is impossible due to cost. There's all the time in the world to experience that. Gaining that education is to me the priority at this time. We will are track to afford the education but not the living away costs and frankly I dont want them having to work enough hours to pay cost of living at this time, not when they can drive in each day.

Shard

Most Canadian students commute from home. In Britain it's a bit easier to go "AWAY" to university, when that university town is a massive 200 miles down the road. Different prospect when the away university is 2000 miles down the road. Whether kids do their 'growing up' at 18 or 21 is not that much of an issue.

scrubbedexpat091

Not sure how it works in Canada but in the US one also has to take into account potential higher tuition if going to another state just for school and getting stuck with paying non-resident tuition rates.

Working through school works for some, but for others it just hinders the students ability to do well. For me when I worked and went to school, I struggled with studies, but when I was not working and just doing school, I did better a I had far more time to study and work on school work.

dbd33

Undergrad, surely? By the time they get to a masters they should own the coffee shop, not serve in it.

I understand your case that a student living with parents will still complete the degree and I see that to be normal among cradles but, oh my, that trajectory of always living at home, taking a job at your dad's firm, expecting your parents to expand the house when you have a child, is way too Canadian for me. I like that my children are people independent of me, I wanted them to grow up and achieve. We may be Canada but we're not of Canada and I'm not good with that whole duelling banjos mentality the locals have.

scrubbedexpat091

I wonder what % of students go on for graduates degrees? The few I know did it several years after graduating initially, married and went back to school, so not sure if that is the norm.

I'd say unless they came from money, a student won't own a coffee shop after college.

Howefamily

Ah but you are just looking at it through one lense though. Staying at home to finish your HE doesnt mean that your child will work in dads firm at all. We dont have a firm. I left home at 16, worked my way to pay to live and studied in my own time to be an Accountant. I know how hard it can be....
Hubby is in the justice system... theres no firm, no nepotism, no desire to have dependant adult children.

I support my kids desires to go wherever they wish, I support the need for HE, I will even pay for as much of that as I can. I DO know for a fact that its a hard life to try to learn and to earn at the same time.
We cannot and will not pay double the cost of HE if its just down the road, as many of the Uni's are here just so that they can leave home... going away to university in a different province though is a different ball game. If its one here in NS then theres no need to leave home if they dont want to.