Nov. 17, 2004 - Issue #474: Planet Simpson
Vuepoint
Tuition impossible?
As I perused the internet last week, I came across an poll being conducted
by macleans.ca that I found rather interesting. It asked, "Do you think the
price of post-secondary education will pay in benefits to your
life?"—and more than 75 per cent of the people who responded said yes,
the cost of their education would pay off down the road. I must admit that it
was reassuring to see such a large majority respond in the affirmative;
really, we hear so much about the prohibitively rising costs of
post-secondary education in this country that it might even seem downright
shocking to read that students are still confident that the price of
education is reflective of the dividends it will return. But there it was,
albeit in moderately reliable online poll form: for many students in Canada,
the financial risk of a post-secondary education is still worth the
reward.
Now, myself, I would agree with that statement, although there are certainly
many who would not. During the University of Alberta Students’
Union’s annual tuition protests, I’ve heard it said that tuition
rates over the past decade have spiraled out of control, to the point where
prospective students from low-income families can no longer afford an
education. While I do agree that the province could be doing more to offset
the cost of schooling and would support a tax hike in order to support this,
I nonetheless feel this argument that high costs naturally equal
inaccessibility is a problematic one.
At around $4,000 a year to attend the U of A, there’s little debate as
to whether or not the cost of education is high, but there are loan systems
in place to ensure that everyone has access to this education. Students seem
to realize that education is a worthwhile investment, and they’re
right: a post-secondary education is so valuable in today’s society
that it seems worth every penny of debt it takes to procure it. Debt, after
all, is far from an alien concept: things with value cost money, and
sometimes we want things that we can’t afford at the moment we want
them. This, tragically, is a fact of life; the best we can do is make sure
that we’re getting our money’s worth.
I, like many other students in Canada, went into debt to get my degree, but
I, like many graduates, am happy with the returns of my education. While I do
support students who lobby for lower tuition rates, I don’t agree with
the assertion that these costs make education inaccessible. In the end,
accessibility is determined by one’s willingness to accept the costs.
And the costs, in the end, are worth it. V
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