International students attending the University Guelph-Humber pay steep prices compared to domestic Canadian students, Reeti Rohilla, an international student from India said.
International students enrolled at Guelph-Humber have to pay for tuition, campus life fees, University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP), housing or residence fees, textbooks and some may have to pay for student visas, according to the Guelph-Humber website.
Though international students are not obligated to live on campus, Ken Turriff, the manager of communications and public relations at Guelph-Humber, said, international students who choose to live on residence have to pay for their room and a food plan, or for a room in a house in the neighbourhood plus transportation fees.
Rohilla said she paid about a total of $11,000 this semester – making it approximately $22,000 per year for tuition – with added on living costs of about $1,500 per month.
Cornelia Braun, an international exchange student studying at Guelph-Humber from Germany, said, “I was pretty surprised to find out how much Canadian students pay for attending university,” Braun said, “I’m wondering why the books you’re supposed to read aren’t included in this amount of money,” as the many costs add up.
The high costs of all these fees negatively impact international students’ lives; Braun said that she had to use her savings from her previous part-time jobs in Germany to pay for the fees.
“At a phase when I was financially low, Guelph-Humber helped me with about $500 worth gift cards for groceries. It really helped me eat well through the tough days, making them better,” Rohilla said. Rohilla said she used the earnings from her current part-time job to pay her tuition.
Ciara Byrne, the issues coordinator at Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, said that universities have independence over tuition fees for international students based on factors including “market forces such as reputation, demand, and competition.” The Canadian government offers scholarships for prospective international students if they are eligible, Byrne suggested.
Turriff said since the Canadian government does not subsidize international students’ cost of education; they pay closer to the true cost of education in Canada. “This is true of most post-secondary institutions across Canada,” Turriff said, but would not comment on Guelph-Humber international students’ unique situation of tuition costs.
Braun that she doesn’t have to pay for education back home in Germany; she paid only for optional student fees and UHIP since the German government subsidizes education for their citizens.
Braun said the loans that international students end up taking to pay for their tuition take a long time to pay off after graduating from university. “That’s really striking for me and from my point of view these high costs aren’t very fair to international students,” Braun said.
“With all this globalization, we might look at such changes. I would love to be able to pay equal to my peers in a place that I already call home,” Rohilla said, “It may also be debated that education should be equal.”