Blog Topic #6: A Hike in Tution

The University of Alberta has announced a tuition hike of $550 for the school year 2010-2011. Clara Ho from the Edmonton Journal stated that particular studies like Medicine could expect a tuition increase of 60%, which translates to approximately $4000. As of March 26, 2010, students can expect the increase of medicine and dentistry to drop from a $4000 hike to about $3400 and for undergraduates a slash of $160 of the old proposed increase (Stolte, 2010). I find that the increase of $290 is less of a drastic change as opposed to $550. The increase of $290 will be effective for the next two years. In four years, I plan to apply for medicine. Knowing that tuition was already expensive, I did not predict the tuition would increase by $3400 each year. Governments across North America stated countries are in need for medical doctors. The demand for doctors is also due to the government’s inability to fund medical students. It takes a large amount of money to allow one student to graduate. Students demonstrated how they felt about the increase in tuition on Thursday by marching to the Legislature. Elise Stolte stated that the government would cut of $20 million to fund the University of Alberta. This cuts school activities, lay-offs for professors, and less spots in courses.

I do not think the unequal distributed tuition amounts are fair. There should be a certain amount (percentage) in which the University can increase each year. The percentage should be consistent with each faculty or degree for which the individual applies to. In Canada many students cannot afford secondary education because they are restricted the amount of money they possess. “Every person has a right to be educated” is what makes Canada a country with rights and freedoms. However, the increase in tuition might have citizens wondering if that is the case. I believe the government should put aside a greater percentage of the budget into education. By doing so, students are willing to consider medicine as a potential career and more students can be accepted into the faculty.

There are other ways of subsidizing the deficit of the University of Alberta. Fundraisers and school rallies can help aware individuals of a particular topic and help collect money for the school. This is not the greatest idea, but it is a start.

The road ahead is a long one, so make the best out of it. The hard work a student goes through in University is difficult. And remember that the money an individual puts aside for University is not that easy to gain. Therefore, study hard and the reward will eventually pay off the debts of University.