U of T is middle-of-the-road, according to the author of a study released last week on the generosity of Canadian universities’ course-withdrawal and tuition-refund policies.
When asked about U of T’s tuition refund policies compared to other Canadian universities, Brock professor Felice Martinello said, “U of T was virtually right in the middle in the schools I looked at. However, you’ve got to bear in mind that you’ve got different [refund policies] across different faculties. I concentrated only on Arts and Science.”
“Tuition refunds are fairly complicated schemes,” he added. “Generally speaking, however, refund generosity did decrease over the years.”
Martinello’s study shows that students attending post-secondary institutions with later course withdrawal dates and more magnanimous tuition refund policies are more likely to switch between programs or schools before second year.
In other words, schools that want to increase persistence and degree completion in students’ first-year programs—and keep them from going elsewhere—should set early withdrawal deadlines and offer limited opportunities for tuition refunds. But more relaxed policies may ensure that more students complete university.
These factors “allow students to make adjustments to surprises and shocks, while learning about PSE [post-secondary education],” the paper reads. The study was done as part of the Measuring the Effectiveness of Student Aid project.
Students’ year-to-year persistence was also estimated to be higher in larger universities. “Despite higher competition, students were less likely to leave larger universities,” Martinello said. “Even though I adjusted the data for entering averages, you still get higher-quality students, and hence more competitive peers. Data showed that instead of wilting, students improve the standards of their own work to meet those of their peers.”
Competitive peers can also be intimidating. “The fact that there are so many more people who have a lot more industry knowledge than me is actually quite demotivating, as I realize that even if I study twice as hard, I will still only be average,” said Ruba Ayyub, a second-year specialist in finance and economics.
Another study, conducted by professor Matthieu Chemin of L’Université du Québec à Montréal, investigated the effects of a student assistance policy change in Quebec in 2001-2002, which decreased the student and parental contribution requirements for student loans.
More students received grants and entered into post-secondary education as a result of the reform. But the study documented that “despite findings of increased persistence due to the reform, no corresponding increase in graduation rates was observed.” This suggests that students who are able to access university education through financial aid may need other systems in place to reach graduation.
Martinello cautioned that his paper is only a pilot study. “Results are fragile, meaning that if you change the specifications, the results change a lot. This is basically just a preliminary report as no one has done anything like this for Canadian universities before,” he said.
U of T’s tuition refund schedules can be found at fees.utoronto.ca
