The Whole Story
Start at the beginning and keep up-to-date. Browse our flat fees archive, read our timeline, and discover breaking news first.
March 30 – Editorial: Flat fees would pose significant problems for many U of T students
April 6 – Open Letter to Naylor from The Varsity’s Allison Martell
Your response
Will flat fees steamroll U of T culture, or are they the best way to straighten the university’s finances? Find out where students stand on the issues that affect them.
Cameron Gedge
- 4th year, Sexual Diversity Studies, Ethics, Society and Law, Philosophy,Writing, Rhetoric, and Critical Analysis
- Relies on OSAP and working outside of school
- Full ourseload, plus lots of clubs and work
“For new students who are not supported by their parents, queer people or people of colour, or who don’t have a lot of money at all, they’re not paying for those particular courses, they’re getting fucked. And you can’t drop the course if you need money all of a sudden. Yeah, so it’s pretty bad. So it’s only good for people who can take a lot of courses and have their parents help them out.”
Madeleine Northcote
- 3rd year, International Relations, visiting student from Mount Allison University, and former U of T student
- Takes 5 classes a term and 15 hours of volunteer work
“We’re all undergraduates so a lot of us don’t do part-time but the people who do are really pissed about it. A lot of students overload because they want to get their money’s worth and a lot of students have loans and New Brunswick doesn’t regulate their loans so a lot of students are really, really, really in debt. Some students feel like they can’t get involved as much as they would otherwise because they really feel like they have to take five courses, so I really advocate against it.”
Masha Werner
- 3rd year Neuroscience
- Relies on work and parents for funding
“[My courseload] depends… I could be doing six courses one semester and four the next. But that doesn’t mean I don’t drop. I don’t think the flat fees is a very good idea. On the other hand it could be a very good idea because it could encourage people to graduate earlier. Right now I’m just doing two credits in the summer but during past school year I was part time due to family obligations. Next year I’m just going to take five courses so it’s not going to be a big deal. Either way it doesn’t affect me. Probably wouldn’t be a good idea for first-years because they’re just adjusting to university life so they would probably benefit from taking just four courses.
Send a Message
Join the debate. Let us know what you think on the issue. Prior to the final, May 20 vote on flat fees at Governing Council, The Varsity will be sending U of T governors a collection of student responses on the matter. To have your comments included in our memo to GC, please make sure to use your first and last name when you post your message.”
