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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:47 pm Post subject: Canadian and U.S. University Costs Compared |
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What may be surprising here to some is Canada's showing. Although often viewed as a so-called "welfare state," the subsidies that Canadian jurisdictions provide to their students in the form of grants appear to be rather measly next to their US counterparts: on average, the US provides 58% more in the form of grants on a per student basis than does Canada. Indeed, the best showing of a province is Alberta at 29th; Quebec, in second place in Canada, is 46th overall, and the other Canadian provinces round out the bottom from 56th place on.
While the discussion of grants per student is an important one, it in itself, much like the discussion of educational costs, provides more insight into government expenditures than into the role that grants play in making post-secondary education more affordable. The discussion of grants per student, however, is important in providing context for our next indicator - net costs.
In terms of out-of-pocket costs, the relatively easy availability of student loans in the United States makes a significant difference to their out-of-pocket costs; while Canadian students must find, on average, $6,460 US ($8,011 CDN) to fund a year if university, American students must pay only $4,702 US ($5,830 CDN). The latter figure is by no means to be dismissed as insignificant, but the difference between the two figures should be considered as significant given that in terms of tuition and total costs the two countries were nearly identical. |
Source:
Usher, A., and Steele, Kim. (2006). Beyond the 49th Parallel II - The Affordability of Public University Education. Toronto, ON: Educational Policy Institute.
This report was electronically released on March 28, 2006.
http://www.educationalpolicy.org/pdf/49thParallel.pdf |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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| well i found that surprising. I assumed college was more affordable for canadians. Perhaps not. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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That is surprising. You hear so much about families saving for 18 years to send their kid to college etc. Of course, what if you compare the cost of going to Canada's top schools versus going to one of America's top schools. For example a B.Math degree at Waterloo is probably cheaper than a B.Math at MIT. An MBA the U of T or Western is cheaper than an MBA at the Wharton school. No?
One of the things that's nice about the American system is so many colleges have huge, huge endowments. They can literally pay the tuition of every first year student and not even dent the interest they earn from their endowments.
The Canadian university endowment system isn't as advanced. I blame the lack of collegiate sports. Your football team goes to the Rosebowl, loads of doctors and CEOs are going to be signing large checks to their alma mater. |
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:02 am Post subject: ... |
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Regarding the Wharton school, U PENN is actually a private school, as are all of the Ivy league (and yes, UPenn is an Ivy; few people know that).
I don't know about Canada, but one hitch in the US system is that you get a different tuition for universities in your own state, not everywhere. Overall, I'd say tuition prices are extremely reasonable, particularly at the grad level, but that only applies to programs in your state of residence. ESL in the Midwest is, um, yeah...
If I want to study at San Fransisco State or UHawaii, it's painful, making Monterrey and SIT viable options in terms of cost ($30,000+).
Just a perspective. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:49 am Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| well i found that surprising. I assumed college was more affordable for canadians. Perhaps not. |
It stopped being more affordable over 10 years ago when the tuition fees shot up in Canada. As someone else pointed out, some American universities are very affordable because they offer scholarships to nearly all of their students. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:46 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
One of the things that's nice about the American system is so many colleges have huge, huge endowments. They can literally pay the tuition of every first year student and not even dent the interest they earn from their endowments.
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Stanford recently announced that if a student's family income is below a certain level (40K? forget), that student will get all expenses paid. It also will offer big discounts to students wtih family incomes under 60K/year I believe. |
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SirFink
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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Shouldn't tuition get calculated into this somehow? I know nothing of typical tuition costs in Canada, but the US has everything from $300/semester community colleges to $40,000/year schools like Harvard.
As far as the ease of getting a loan, the US probably does have the edge here. But is it an edge Canada wants? Loan companies, banks, credit companies, usurers, whatever you want to call them, have bribed -- er, lobbied -- Congress to make it more difficult for individuals to escape from debt (i.e. file for Bankruptcy protection). Thus, loan sharks are only too happy to loan you so much money your grandchildren will be paying it off long after you're dead. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Most Canadian uni students are no better off- why do you think there are so many Cdn grads in Korea? |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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because canadians are more open-minded and interested in other cultures than americans- duh.  |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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| For example a B.Math degree at Waterloo is probably cheaper than a B.Math at MIT. |
I went to Waterloo, it was $5,800CDN a year for tuition. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| because canadians are more open-minded and interested in other cultures than americans- duh. |
Um, isn't that what I said?
[psst, dude, keep it down, will ya? There's a commissar about - you want I should get sent to some gulag in Nunavut?] |
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Paji eh Wong
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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So is it that Canadians pay more at the "till" and Americans pay more in endowments afterwards? I'd be interested in a genuine cost comparison between the two. As a side note, thank God Canada doesn't have an NCAA type sports program.
| Quote: |
| I went to Waterloo, it was $5,800CDN a year for tuition. |
I paid $2400 per for my BA at UVic. Graduated not that long ago. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| Paji eh Wong wrote: |
So is it that Canadians pay more at the "till" and Americans pay more in endowments afterwards? I'd be interested in a genuine cost comparison between the two. As a side note, thank God Canada doesn't have an NCAA type sports program.
| Quote: |
| I went to Waterloo, it was $5,800CDN a year for tuition. |
I paid $2400 per for my BA at UVic. Graduated not that long ago. |
I graduated in 1991. My final year it was about $900 per semester. So about $1800 per year. The government paid for most of it via OSAP grants. After 6 years of university, my student debt was about $4800. |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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When I graduated in 1990, my tuition was about $2000 a year. When I did my MA in 2001, undergrad tuition was about $4000. Specialized programs such as pharmacy were much more. I looked into an IT program ($28,000) and a journalism program ($13,000) in Nova Scotia but it wasn't possible. None of these costs include books, student fees, supplies, or residence costs.
I'm very happy to see this fiction about Canadian university tuition being so much cheaper officially exploded. That may have been the case in the 80s, but not now. I starved through my grad program in Newfoundland on assistantships averaging a thousand dollars a semester. Compared to what many American universities offer grad students, I'd never do it again.
Ken:> |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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Found this on Yahoo! news in an article about a summit going on:
"Nearly 13 percent of Americans and 16 percent of Canadians live below the poverty line"
Had no idea the Great North Oak Leaf had more poor peeps than the dirty, nasty bad Big Bully to the South.
Sorry, just a teensy hi-jack. |
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