David P

With rumours that the British government is going to allow universities to charge unlimited tuition fees, a possible graduate tax and students graduating with £30,000 of debt I just wondered how Canada deals with Universty funding.

Atlantic Xpat

Canada has tuition fees and graduate debt just like, or perhaps currently, in excess of the UK. Relatives here have graduated from Bachelor and Masters programmes with between $50-70k of debt depending upon which school they have attended. (The $70k was for a Masters of Speech Pathology degree from a US University.)

My perspective is that the UK is catching up to the rest of the world. Perhaps it will change the culture so that not everyone goes to University, which is a good thing IMHO.

Novocastrian

<opens lid of can. inspects worms. walks away.>

HPJOS

A good friend of mine who is a doctor here in Canada had $250k debt from his time at University. How does that compare?

rich07

UK has just announced cap of £7000 per year on fees, but with student loans and bank overdrafts, I guess the average undergraduate will be leave uni with debts of £40-£50k.

Novocastrian

Luckily, £7000 is only about $11,400 these days.

Dogs. Country. Going to.

London Mike

Education funding in Canada is provincial and consequently there is variability across the provinces. On average for the humanities, social and behavioural sciences annual tuition fees are at $5,000 p/a for u/grad which is basically equivalent to the UK (on today's exchange rate). Business/Law schools can be a lot higher - Schulich in Toronto is at $25k per year (but it's a top school).

Compared with the US, fees in Canada aren't very high at all and overall the quality of higher education is better here, in my view. That is, there is LOTS of variability in standards within the US system - and with some great univs - but even the lower end universities can be quite expensive. Michigan State is now charging something like $40k p/annum and the average state university $20k-$30k p/year. In Canada, there are some excellent universities but the difference between the top and lower tier universities is nowhere near as pronounced as the US with fees being more even - aside from in Business, Law etc.

The big killer in Canada is the price of textbooks. Average textbook price in North America $130.00, but where the u/graduate at Michigan State isn't going to baulk too much at that price (especially with the availability of lots of used books) because they'll have already spent tonnes on fees, here Canadian u/grads feel the pinch and typically spend $1,000 per year on textbooks.

I'm boring myself now so I'll shut up.

ireland2canada

But, that's twice as much as the current university fees (posh schools aside). Where is the benefit to the consumer of said university education? Are you twice as brainy at the end of it all, do you have twice as many job opportunities? Or are you just twice as broke?

Novocastrian

I'm not sure if I was quite clear. All university tuition fees are anathema. There is simply no rational reason for them.

ireland2canada

Gotcha. I was just moaning in general, to no one in particular.

Dogs.

CanadaJimmy

Goodbye Arts Degrees.

Oink

They're adults who're investing in themselves, presumably expecting a substantial financial return on their investment. They should pay for such a benefit, my nan shouldn't be paying for them. The gravy train for posh people having free higher education that poorer people pay for is just distant inequitable memory.

London Mike

The counter to this is that an educated society makes for a more prosperous economy (yes, more debt laden at a personal level but ...). Then, everyone benefits. So the state should shoulder some burden. I do agree with Oink that students who will benefit from an education should pay for some of it, perhaps a significant amount of it. When I hear about big protests for $5k p/year fees in Canada it does make me laugh a bit.

Sally Redux

And poor people getting a higher education could be out the window too. Oh no, that's right, they're going to have bursaries.

Novocastrian

If I thought you were even slightly serious, I'd shoot you.