Should Canadian universities offer free tuition?

Major discussions over Canadian university fees have recently arisen. Since the 1990s, the cost of tuition has skyrocketed across the nation, making many students, particularly those from low-income households, unable to afford it (Yelland 1). Students protested the growing expense of higher education in 2012 during the Quebec Strike. Since then, disagreements and conflicts regarding this particular problem have arisen among lawmakers, taxpayers, and students. The argument put forth by proponents of tuition-free institutions in Canada was that many people are finding it challenging to pursue a university education due to the steadily rising costs. On the contrary, opponents imply that free university tuition is not possible since the Canadian government cannot afford fees for every student (Afseth 1). The paper will discuss the reason for and against introduction of free university tuition in Canada.

According to Tannara Yelland, the university tuition in Canada should be free because from 1991-2013, the national mean for university fees almost tripled. Precisely, in 2013, the average was $6,610 as compared to 1991 when it was $2,243. Consequently, the high cost of university education has affected many potential students who are forced to finance their academics through loans. Currently, a typical university graduate in Canada owes a debt load of more than $27,000. Furthermore, the university education currently does not guarantee a well-paying job relative to several decades ago. In fact, it has become a minimum entry level into the job market. Hassan also supports this idea arguing that the debts owed by Canadian students have stretch to over $15 billion (Hassan 1). The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) recommended that university tuition should be scrapped off. Some countries such as Norway have a system that ensures that fees in state universities are free or subsidized by the Canadian government. In this regard, the scholars suggest that although institution fee should not be entirely free, the government should initiate mechanism to subsidize the academic expenses just like Canada (Hassan 1). Apart from Norway, other European nations such as Germany have over the recent years started offering free university education (Freeman 1).

Scholars supporting free tuition in Canadian universities point out that current global trend indicate that the world is heading to free post-secondary education. The demand for higher education in the country has increased hence the government should introduce free university education in Canada (Freeman 1). Moreover, the country has the sixth highest mean tuition fee structure for undergraduate education among the OECD countries. Therefore, it is would be important to implement a tuition-free universities in Canada because this has become the common practice across the globe (Yelland 1). Based on these arguments, it is important for the Canadian government to introduce free university education particularly for disadvantaged families because the high cost of tuition deter them from pursuing their academic goals in life. Such funds should be channelled through the provincial grants, which would play a part in reduction of the students’ loan debt.

Although it is easier for a student from low-income background to acquire higher education loan to join university, it turn out to be more challenging to pursue a degree. Similarly, these students face hardships to begin life after graduation due to huge financial debt that must be repaid (Hassan 1). Moreover, such an initiative would help to increase access of university education in the country for all the social or economically disadvantaged members of the society. In addition, the government should provide low-interests loans to learners from more well off households aiming to provide equity among all students in the country. For instance, some of the areas in Canada that have successful introduced free post-secondary education include Ontario (Freeman 1).

On the contrary, other scholars oppose introduction free post-secondary education because the government cannot manage to pay for everyone. Lyndsay Afseth noted the issue that students who are pursuing professional degrees must not get free tuition because they are more likely to be dealing with jobs that do not need a degree following their graduation. In addition, they oppose the free university education because it would increase taxation hence raising the cost of living to the common Canadian citizen. For instance, countries that offer completely free university education such as Norway has a significant higher cost of living as compared to other nations (Afseth 1). Precisely, the cost of living increases due to taxation that is used to cater free tuition costs in universities and provision of various social services.

For this reason, Canada might experience challenges related to high cost of living in case it adopts similarly education model that Norway utilizes. Moreover, the population in Canada is much higher as compared to that of Norway hence it would be more costly to offer tuition-free university education to all people who need it. Matthew Lau supports this idea noting that the cost of living in Canada is already very high for the common citizen and it would be irrational to initiate upsurge of taxes to fund the expenditures of initiating tuition-free university education. In this regard, the experts propose that the free university education should not be entirely for all the students (Lau 1). Significantly, it should target people who are marginalized in the community.

The introduction of tuition-free university education does not necessary create equal learning opportunities for learners in the higher education category. The success of free university education will depend on the income of the student’s family. Reports indicate that approximately 67 per cent of people in the upper 1 per cent earnings group in Canada acquired university education (Lau 1). Nevertheless, only less than 21 per cent of Canadians aged over 15 years have acquired university education. Therefore, it is not important to provide free post-secondary education for all students in Canada (Afseth 1). Instead, the government should focus on offer free university tuition for learners who then cannot manage to pay to join university without suffering from huge financial debts. In this way, the country would establish many equality opportunities among learners. Furthermore, it would assist in reducing the ever-rising income gap in the country.

In the case of Ontario, students who belong to families whose net income does not exceed $50,000 annually benefit from free university tuition. Unfortunately, this kind of policy may lead to over-consumption of university services in the province. It would cause massive rise in marginal enrolment in universities among all type of students. Significantly, higher admission would be witnessed among lower-ability and unmotivated learners in courses such as equity studies and theatre history (Lau 1). Therefore, it would lead to investment in unprofitable education in the Canadian society.

Conclusion

Canadian students’ experience high cost of university tuition. Since the 1990s, the tuition has increased tremendously which has increased hardships that learners experience. Therefore, introduction of tuition-free university education play a crucial part in offering equal educational opportunities for the students in Canada. The world is moving towards free post-secondary education with countries such as Norway offering completely tuition-free university education. Therefore, Canada needs to introduce free university tuition because most of Canadian students are unable to pay. However, introducing this type of policy has various challenges. Firstly, it is likely to increase cost of living because of increase in taxation. Similarly, it can lead to overconsumption. Therefore, the Canadian government should only provide free university tuition to students who belong to families that earn less amount of income per year.

Work cited

Afseth, Lyndsay. “Should University Tuition Be Free For All Students? - The Sheaf - The University Of Saskatchewan Newspaper since 1912”. The Sheaf - The University of Saskatchewan Newspaper Since 1912. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 June 2017.

Freeman, Sunny. “Germany Scraps Tuition Fees. Should We Follow?”. The Huffington Post. N.p., 2014. Web. 15 June 2017.

Hassan, Aisha. “Is Free Tuition Possible?”. The Varsity. N.p., 2013. Web. 15 June 2017.

Lau, Matthew. “Why Free Tuition Helps All The Wrong Students”. Financial Post. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 June 2017.

Wheeler, David. “Time For A National Debate On Free Tuition”. Acadamica forum. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 June 2017.

Yelland, Tannara. “​Why Canada Should Have Free University Tuition, And How It Could”. Vice. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 June 2017.