A limited pot of post-secondary funding in BC has begun to pit the province’s large research universities and trade schools against one another.
As technical and skills-based programs at schools were given sizeable sums in recent weeks as part of the BC Liberals’ Jobs Plan funding rollout, a group representing research universities’ interests across the province fired back.
The Research Universities Council of BC, representing UBC, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, University of Northern BC, Royal Roads University and Thompson Rivers University, recently re-released a report they’d originally publicized back in October 2012. The report shows, based on the government’s own jobs data, that job-market demand for university graduates in BC will outstrip supply by 2016.
But the Liberals are still committed to staying the course on their plan to beef up trade and technical programs at key schools, while giving post-secondary grants across the province an overall $41 million cut by 2014. The NDP opposes this cut, but the party has yet to reveal whether it will prioritize research-based universities or skills-based trade certification programs in its post-secondary platform.
University of Victoria President David Turpin said the province needs a variety of education options so young people can choose what path they’ll take to try to obtain employment.
“Trades are valuable, college diplomas are valuable, university degrees are valuable. What’s important is that there be space in the system for every qualified student,” Turpin said. “I’m a firm believer in this being driven by demand.”
And when given a chance to speak at a recent invitation-only event promoting student involvement, UBC President Stephen Toope took a more adversarial stance. He argued that a trade-school education, while helpful for employment, doesn’t help students become versatile and agile leaders.
While the overall cut in operating grants has shrunk the number of funded spaces available at many schools in the province, targeted capital spending has allowed some schools to expand. Emily Carr University of Art and Design was given over $100 million to expand into a new campus in late January.
And Thompson Rivers University (a mid-size institution that is part of the Research Universities’ Council, but also houses a good number of trade certification programs) was just given $1.39 million specifically for heavy equipment used by trades and technology students.
This shows the shift in priorities as laid out by BC Liberal minister of advanced education John Yap when he took over the cabinet post in September of last year.
“Taxpayers invest $5 million each and every single day to support the [BC post-secondary] system. The four major research universitiesŃUBC, SFU, UVic, UNBCŃreceive more than half of the operating grants provided to the 25 institutions,” said Yap.
“We need to make sure that we’re training people for the jobs that need to be filled,” Yap added.
Turpin argues that a significant uptick in funding should be given to schools’ operating budgets, rather than just focusing on affordability for needy students.
“The quality of our programs is going to erode,” says Turpin. “And that is a long-term problem for the province of British Columbia. Our view is that the investments we’re calling for are truly investments. By generating talented people for society, they’re going to be able to give back through the tax system.”