U of T’s Governing Council met for its annual fee-hike ritual on April 16, voting for an average of 4.3 per cent increase for domestic students and 5.7 per cent for international students. The hikes are expected to bring in $25.1 million in new revenue.
Police guarded the entrance to Simcoe Hall as a crowd of 50 students, professors, staff and unionists protested outside, demanding a stop to flat fees and rising tuition costs. The rally organized by the Fight Fees Coalition included speakers, live performances and free food and t-shirts.
“It’s an atrocity, like many of the things this university does,” said Patrick Vitale. He and Heather Dorris, a fellow grad student, said fees have doubled from when he started university.
Ignoring the faint noise of protestors outside, Cheryl Misak, U of T’s VP and provost, insisted that an increase was necessary for U of T to remain competitive and that tightening the budget was not enough. She also noted that the increase followed government and university policy, and that U of T’s tuition would remain on par with other comparable universities in Canada.
Speakers objected to the increase, arguing it hinders student accessibility and decreases student diversity. They appealed for more public funding.
Earlier this month the Faculty of Arts and Science Council approved a flat fee structure that will force its full-time students to pay for five courses, regardless of how many they take. The move was pushed through to balance $5-7 million budget deficits at the faculty. The Arts and Science and U of T student unions are currently challenging the decision in court.
“The funding processes are broken,” said Adam Awad, UTSU’s VP university affairs, lamenting GC’s vote to increase fees year after year despite protest. Vanessa Parlette, a TA in the geography department, said on behalf of her union, CUPE 3902, that the teaching quality at U of T was already compromised and further fee increases would scare off graduates, jeopardizing the school’s stability.
Jeff Peters, representing the Association of Part-Time Students, said that U of T was failing its guarantee that that once accepted into a program, no student should have to drop out for financial reasons. He said that part-time students often had to drop out of due to financial difficulty. Part-time students are ineligible for Ontario Student Assistance Program loans.
Student governor Ryan Campbell, called on the university to look into how many students were taking private non-OSAP loans to evaluate the effectiveness of OSAP. The suggestion was seconded by alumni governor Tim Reid.
“It is difficult to collect reliable data on private student burrowing, as there is no public data available,” said Misak after the meeting. She insisted U of T has conducted some surveys and will continue to monitor borrowing trends over the next few years.
Meghan Gallant, secretary of the Graduate Student’s Union, said higher fees would place stress on current students and scare off perspective ones. Her point that international students already face enough financial challenges was echoed by Campbell, representing Engineering, who said the admin used international students as a cash grab.
Academic board chair, Professor Michael Marrus, adamantly responded to those who spoke against fee hikes, saying no one presented any realistic or prudent alternatives. Except for four student governors—Jeff Peters, Ryan Campbell, Grant Gonzales, and Olivier Sorin—all members present voted in favour of the motion.
“The University has never agreed to working with the student body to lobby the government for a fully-funded reduction in tuition fees with an increase to operational funding,” said UTSU president Sandy Hudson after learning about the vote. “This makes it very clear to me that the governing boards of the University do not adequately represent students.”
Student governor Ken Davy said he voted for the fee hike to help part-time students: “Revenue at the university is drastically affected by the economic crisis, and the University looks to areas where it can save money. I am very concerned that as money gets tighter the number of courses normally available to part time students, such as evening courses, will be trimmed back or not offered at all.”
With many faculties running deficits, U of T still plans to go ahead with many expensive capital investments, including expanding the Law School, the Center for High Performance Sport (which will evict APUS from its office), and the Rotman School of Management, and the proposed $170-million UTSC sports facility.
“It is of course very difficult to do so in the current economic climate, but we very much hope that none of our important projects for our community will have to be put on hold indefinitely,” said Misak. “That would be unfair to this generation of students.”
Joeita Gupta, VP external of the Association of Part-Time Students, said that flat fees and tuition increases erect barriers to those who have the most trouble accessing university. “It’s like apartheid,” she said, “a systematic exclusion of students who cannot reach university.”
