Students speak out on international fees

By Joseph Quigley

BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College is trying to generate revenue by recruiting international students, but not everyone finds the amount they pay to be fair.

At Loyalist College, international students pay $14,650 for a full year of study, compared to $3,800 for other Loyalist students. Included in this cost is the private health insurance that international students must pay, totalling $650 per year.

A chart representing international and domestic tuition fees. Loyalist students pay approximately $3,800 in fees per year, less than the $14,650 that international students pay per year. According to Statistics Canada, the situation is similar in post-secondary institutions across the country: $5,959 is the average university undergraduate tuition, compared to $20,447 for international students.

Loyalist president Maureen Piercy said that international students provide multiple benefits to the college.

“We’re focusing increasingly on international students because those students bring a high value to the campus just through globalization. But they also bring a very important financial benefit because their tuition is higher and it’s all [paid] in the year,”  she said in an interview earlier this year.

However, there are those who disagree with the additional fees international students pay. The Ontario branch of the Canadian Federation of Students launched the “Fairness for International Student Campaign” last year. The campaign’s goals include removing the additional fees for international students, and getting international students onto provincial health insurance.

The director for the Ontario branch of the federation, Alastair Woods, said that post-secondary institutions see international students too much as revenue sources.

“I think the unfortunate reality is a lot of post-secondary institutions see international students as cash cows,” he said.  “Because the government has been underfunding post-secondary institutions for a long time, many institutions see international students essentially as a way to make up for lost revenue. And so they aggressively go abroad and try to recruit international students, not necessarily for the aspect of bringing diversity to the campus or giving them access to education, though that’s certainly part of it. But essentially as a way to make up for budget shortfalls.”

Woods said there’s no good reason why international students should pay more.

“There’s no real justification for why international students shouldn’t pay the same rates as domestic students. International students don’t take any more space or use up any more resources than domestic students they just happen to be from a different country.”

Several Loyalist international students said that the additional fees are unfair.

“The fees are really high to be honest with you. And also, looking at the fact that the domestic students pay 4 times less than what we pay, I think it’s unfair to us to have to pay that huge amount of money,” said Mary Adeyanju, a first year advertising student.

“[Loyalist] is responsible for anything that happens to us here in Canada, if we look at their perspective. But my friends in my class pay [much less than me], it’s a little bit hard,” said Kabir Sidhu, a business sales and marketing student.

Adeyanju said the costs prevent a lot of people from coming to study abroad.

“I know that there are many people that are willing, I have many friends that are willing to come. But they can’t actually afford it because it’s one thing to pay for the fees, and you have all the other things to pay for like accommodation, feeding, you have to consider all of that.”

She also said it’s important for campuses to have diversity.

“Having international students in school is a good way to bring people from different cultures together and let them learn. Because learning is not just about you coming to the school. You should also have an understanding of other cultures. We have that at Loyalist.”

Despite all the costs, Sidhu said the experience is worth it.

“I can see a bright future here. It’s a very nice college and everyone welcomes you with an open heart.”