Atlantic Xpat

Lowest tuition fees in Canada here: Become an Undergraduate Student | Tuition & Related Fees

scrubbedexpat091

That is how education across Canada should be....

If they offered something up my alley, I'd seriously consider moving there.

Shard

Change your alley for a few years.

Atlantic Xpat

It's been provincial government policy to maintain the low tuition fees at MUN for a decade or more. It genuinely is Canada's cheapest university. It may not be a top flight institution but is competent enough. I delight in having Canada's cheapest MBA on my resume.

There are many fields of study at MUN. (Which also includes the Marine Institute). What is it about your alley that is so specialised?

dbd33

Not if it's in Quebec. In the first year the out of Province rate applies but, after that, the student is resident in Quebec and the domestic rate is used. (Again, this is based on experience with one student).

scrubbedexpat091

I am not a strong academic and seems they only have bachelor degree programs and higher.

I need more of a skills based program like medical lab assistant, or something along those lines. I learn specific skills well but I am lousy at academics and struggle hugely in academics.

College academic classes I have taken, I have not passed, however all of the skills based classes I have taken, I have done very well in.

Despite the instructor in my pre-paramedic program thinking I wasn't learning anything, I got the 3rd highest grade in the class and even made some list.

(I never asked questions, never took notes, never spoke in class, so the instructor was concerned I would not pass, but that's just me, I read the book, practiced the skills, learned the skills, and could perform the skills. I did struggle with explaining how to do the skills, but I have trouble explaining things, doesn't mean I don't know how to do it, but that's why I don't teach....lol) That was back in California prior to moving to Canada.


Ask me to do a research paper or read a book and write a paper on it, or memorize a bunch of historical stuff, and I just don't do well, but that is how my whole school career was from K all the way to 12, however in high school, I had a select few classes I did well in, but it was hard and took a massive amount of time and effort and other classes suffered because well I had to focus so much attention onto 1 class to do well.

So I suppose if I did 1 class at a time, I could probably do okay in academics, but for me at this age, education is more about getting an employable skill more then anything else, I am past the age of going for just an education or the experience.

scrubbedexpat091

Probably need to speak French to do well there I suppose?

dbd33

There are English language universities in Montreal; McGill and Concordia. One would live better for knowing the language but it's not uncommon for students to go there speaking only English and to learn as they go.

Shirtback

This.

Although I don't think it's relevant for JS. From what I read in your posts, JS, you are looking more for a vocational/technical/college level course/qualification?

Atlantic Xpat

Well, yes. It's a University. This thread is about Universities. They tend to be strong on academic learning and less on vocational stuff. So if the barrier to you attending is that not being the right fit for you then there is little point on commenting on the favourability of the fee structure is there? It could be free and still no use to you?

I'd suggest vocational college is more suited. No idea whether College of the North Atlantic is as cheap compared to other colleges in Canada as Memorial University is but perhaps worth checking out? (Although cost of living here is probably as expensive as BC by the time you factor in more expensive groceries and travel.)

Novocastrian

...one of the very best Canadian graduate students I ever had started out there. Cheaper doesn't mean lower quality.

Atlantic Xpat

....Did you not see the bit about me having Canada's cheapest MBA on my resume? MUN isn't a top flight University but it does have a solid reputation & frankly at the undergraduate level your degree is probably as useful to you as one from another Canadian uni and comes with significantly less tuition fee related debt.

scrubbedexpat091

We have universities in BC that offer vocational programs, and it's impossible to know how every single region in Canada operates.

So based on the system we have here, it would not be unusual for someone in BC to be expecting some vocational program in addition to academic programs.

University is a loose term in BC, we have plenty of smaller universities offering vocational and short term programs.

Unfortunately we don't all have rich parents to foot our education and people on her can be totally out of touch with reality for people who are desperate to improve their life but need an employable skill and have ZERO way to pay for it because tuition exceeds their total annual income.

Anyhow thinking about it more, would be useless to go to a vocational school back east, too many differences in regulations, many we have here are not recognized back east.

scrubbedexpat091

I just need an employable skill that has jobs and the only hurdle is money, and it's impossible for people like us to come up with 17,000 to attend a 6 month medical lab assistant program.

I've exhausted all known resources, and the best the school could help is allow me to pay 4,000 down, and then pay 2,700 a month for the first 5 months of the program, we don't even make 2,000 in a month and have no way to come up with that kind of money on a monthly basis.

I am not a single parent so eliminates the government retraining program through disability.

We don't make enough for a bank to lend us 17,000 unsecured.

I've been working with the financial aid people for almost a year now, it is utterly impossible for us to come up with the money needed, and hence like many low income people we cannot access the skills we need to become employable.

Oink

My parents didn't pay a penny towards my higher education and I even did it in a foreign country. I saved my money as a teenager and then with scholarships and selling my soul, managed to fund all of it, 11 years and only about $5000 of credit card debt at the end of it. So it can be done, I think it helps if you're young, single and terribly naive, that way you don't see all the obstacles up front.

Plus, as ex-pats we're not a very representative sample.