This story originally appeared in our January 18, 2017 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCamosun International (CI) director Christiaan Bernard says that he wouldn\u2019t call the money made off of international students a profit, as Camosun is accountable to the government for every dollar they spend, even if those are dollars coming in from international students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all has to go back into the institution to provide either services, more courses, more sections\u2026 Part of the reason international students want to come here is because we have those services, we have the computer labs, we have the equipment for engineering, we have the support,\u201d says Bernard. \u201cSo it\u2019s really going back into the system to give them what they\u2019re coming here for, as well as providing additional services for the domestic students, because part of the reason the international students are coming here is to also study the Canadian students. It all kind of works together to support reasons why international students would want to come here, and to also help them be successful once they\u2019re here. Part of that success is not just academic, but having opportunities to interact with Canadian students, get Canadian culture, and get the skills that will help them in their future.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some international students still feel taken advantage of. Business student Rishav Jain goes even further with the word he uses to describe how he feels Camosun treats international students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually harassment, you could say,\u201d says Jain. \u201cI feel like when you come to a new place, you always want to pay not less, but comparatively. Equal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) international director Srijani Nath says that while most international students have budgets based on the overview Camosun supplies, costs are higher than expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith most international students, the amount of tuition fees we are paying here, it\u2019s unbelievably more than people can afford,\u201d says Nath. \u201cBefore coming here, most of the students have a set budget that they know they\u2019re going to spend on the tuition fee, but at the same time, they\u2019re not really fully prepared about the rent and about the food expense, and about the other expenses that come with the studies\u2014for example, books and your study materials. The college definitely provides them an overview, but, still, it\u2019s way more.\u201d<\/p>\n
For students like Riccardo Tavazzani, who\u2019s in his second year of the Criminal Justice program, Canada has a lot of opportunities, so the positive outweighs the cost. Still, he does acknowledge the drastic difference in tuition between domestic and international students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand it; I just don\u2019t feel it\u2019s very good because it\u2019s a lot more,\u201d says Tavazzani. \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about $1,000, $2,000\u2026 we\u2019re talking about seven times more than a domestic student. But what can I say? It\u2019s Canada. I don\u2019t really like to pay more, but if I have to? Canada is the only thing that I want in my life right now, so I\u2019m willing to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?<\/strong><\/p>\nNath says that colleges have their own kind of funding\u2014different from universities\u2014and that this makes tuition policies at colleges unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe revenue that comes out of the international student tuition is one of the major sources of revenue that is put toward the growth of the college toward the end of the fiscal year,\u201d says Nath. \u201cIt\u2019s a very planned program, which definitely goes by the needs of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
And with the increase in international students attending Camosun over the past several years, Bernard says that Camosun has been able to stabilize services\u2014and add additional ones\u2014to the college.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of those services are more counselling services, more services in the library, more services to support students\u2019 success,\u201d says Bernard. \u201cI know that more sections of ELD [English Language Development] have been created, and Engineering has been created with the excess tuition left over. I believe there are also some LPN [Licenced Practical Nurse] positions that have been created, and the rest goes into general revenue to support the entire institution. So it could be IT services, it could be just keeping lights on in buildings and replacing things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nath says that international students get more services from the school and require the school makes more investments toward them than they do domestic students, two factors that help explain the increased costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a homestay counsellor who takes care of students, so she\u2019s in charge of arranging their homestays as part of the requirement, taking care of all the other formalities,\u201d says Nath. \u201cSimilarly, we have our international counsellors, where students can talk about their academic\u2014as well as personal\u2014issues, and they\u2019re there to guide them. We have our special academic advisors, which is not the same as the domestic students\u2019, but we have a separate one that is all done by CI. They are exclusively for international students to get guidance about their programs, about their permit, about their academic issues and their health benefits and extended health benefits that student council provides us. So a lot of the tuition fee is divided into a lot of miscellaneous expenditures. A part of it also includes some of the services. I would say the cumulative amount that goes to all of the services makes it more. And, of course, I believe part of it is also because of the tax that we as international students pay over our tuition fees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bernard says the tuition that\u2019s left over from the high international student fees is also for the services of the international offices on both campuses that are there to support international students.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those offices, we have various people who speak most of our students\u2019 native languages,\u201d says Bernard. \u201cSo if they\u2019re having some type of problem that\u2019s beyond the scope of education, maybe an intensive emotional [problem], or they\u2019ve run into a problem and it\u2019s easier for them to communicate in their native language, we try to facilitate that for them. We have 80-plus cultures on campus, so we can\u2019t necessarily do it for everyone, but we do have the ability to contact other people outside the institution who can help, if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE BIG REASON<\/strong><\/p>\nSearching for a breakdown of the college\u2019s international tuition fees over at the Camosun website, the list includes tuition, non-instructional fees, medical insurance, books, and supplies, with optional homestay costs. There is no explanation as to what everyone wonders when they see the numbers: why do international students pay more than domestic?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the main reason: the provincial government gives Camosun money to subsidize the education of Canadians (in fiscal year 2015\/2016, that amount was to the tune of $55,982,333). However, they don\u2019t subsidize international students\u2019 education. The Camosun website says that, for example, the approximate annual tuition fee for a domestic University Transfer student is $3,000. The same amount of time in the same program will cost an international student approximately $14,700. A rough calculation shows that the government gives Camosun approximately $6,220 for each domestic student. Add on the $3,000 that a University Transfer student pays in tuition, and the approximate true cost of that education is $9,220, which means that the international student is paying $5,480 more than the true cost of their education (note that these numbers are very approximate, as fees and other expenses differ between programs).<\/p>\n
As another example, a Business Administration bachelor\u2019s degree is $23,850 for a domestic student; it\u2019s $70,000 for an international student. That\u2019s a difference of $46,150. Bernard says that it\u2019s simply the difference between a subsidized system for domestic students and a user-pay system for international students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe $46,000 difference, most of that would go to the cost of offering programs to the student,\u201d says Bernard. \u201cAnd anything that\u2019s left over afterwards goes into providing services the college uses, more selection of courses. So, for example, the post-degree diploma programs that are now being offered at Camosun, the funding to create those was from revenue\/tuition left over after the international students had paid their total. Whatever was left over, that was used to create new programs. And sometimes it\u2019s services; sometimes it\u2019s to ensure a program that\u2019s being offered isn\u2019t cut. So they use anything left over, it goes into general revenue and costs. The college uses it for various reasons or needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nath says that the differing tuition fees between domestic and international students is a give-and-take situation. (A spokesperson for the Ministry of Advanced Education confirmed to Nexus<\/i> that the government does not provide funding for international students, only domestic.)<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the grants are toward the domestics,\u201d says Nath. \u201cA few of them are programmed in a way where international students can apply for it and can access it. That\u2019s why we, as part of the student council, have campaigns and petitions where we are trying to talk to the government and the officials about the lowering of the tuition fee, and, at the same time, increasing the grants. International students, we have lesser, almost very limited grants. Less grants makes education less accessible for our students, without a loan.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE UNSUBSIDIZED LIFE<\/strong><\/p>\nWhile it\u2019s true that some students\u2014international and domestic\u2014rely on their parents for support, that isn\u2019t true of all students. Domestic students may be able to find funding through grants and scholarships, but that isn\u2019t an option to many international students. Nath says many international students rely on their part-time jobs to get by.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though some of the students can rely on their family for the tuition fee, most of the time, after a semester or two, students try to pay off their tuition fee with their own money,\u201d says Nath. \u201cFor that, they are struggling to work hours that they can, making maximum use of that, and then paying off their rent, their food, their tuition fee with that. And that\u2019s why it takes them a lot more time and a lot more struggle for them to finish their courses, which they could have finished way earlier if they were not really putting that much effort in part-time jobs or something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nath also mentions other expenses, such as some health expenses, that international students may not expect. After the usual costs\u2014like rent and food\u2014school can become a lot more expensive than the students planned for, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, a lot of them rely on part-time jobs, and a lot of the time they have no options, so they have to rely on some of the loans they have taken, and maybe even that doesn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Basil Jose, a recent Camosun graduate with a post-degree diploma in Business Administration and Marketing, says he had to ask for help from his family when he was attending the college.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the education loan, it\u2019s more than 10 percent interest,\u201d says Jose, \u201cso I asked for financial help from my family, so that I can repay them as soon as I can. For the first semester I\u2019ll be asking, then trying to pay by myself for the second semester and the third semester, if possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jain, who would like to go to school full-time, is realistic about needing to find a part-time job. He feels lucky to have found Nath, who has helped him find\u2014and pay for\u2014the room he\u2019s staying in.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can rely on someone else also, but most of the time, you must rely on yourself only for jobs and everything,\u201d says Jain. \u201cYou don\u2019t have many friends here when you come to a new place, so you can\u2019t ask for money, or you can\u2019t borrow things from your friends, as you don\u2019t have many.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Bernard says that it\u2019s important for people to understand how much international students are bringing to the institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do pay significantly more, because they are not being subsidized by the federal or provincial government,\u201d says Bernard. \u201cSome people may say that they\u2019re being fleeced, but all of the money they pay to the institution goes back into the institution to create the atmosphere that they want to be in. You can\u2019t call it a profit because, at the end of the day, we\u2019re at a zero balance, with everything going back into the institution. It\u2019s up to the international students to determine if this environment is the environment that they want to be in. If it\u2019s not, then they can leave and take their support for the environment with them. We have a very good retention rate, so I think they\u2019re pretty happy with the fees being charged to them, the tuition being charged to them, and the environment here at Camosun. I came from another institution in BC, and it\u2019s not even half as good as what Camosun is offering to their students. It\u2019s pretty significant here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether or not the people I spoke with agreed with the high international student fees, each interview ended on a positive note, with every student saying how much they love it at Camosun; they just don\u2019t love the fees. Jose says he is happy with the quality of teaching he\u2019s getting at the college.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least in marketing, they are being more practical, and the connections which the professors have have also helped us in building our networks and gradually helping my current role in my job,\u201d says Jose. \u201cThat was one great way in which I was able to quickly network with the Victoria communities. I find this school\u2019s very interesting and very good for international students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jain says he guesses he won\u2019t be completing his two-year program within two years if he has to work at the same time, and he says that it will be difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be challenging, but at least it can make you more independent,\u201d says Jain, \u201cand you can get in touch with many people and you can learn a lot if you come to a different city and country. In India, you can rely on your parents, on your friends, that they can help you any time, if you have any problem\u2014money or anything. But coming to a new place, it\u2019s a whole new experience, and, at times, it can be a good one and also a bad one. So I\u2019m just looking forward to a good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tavazzani says that he was used to not having good grades back home, and he only decided to work harder before he graduated. Studying abroad was his second chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was concerned with my future back home,\u201d says Tavazzani, \u201cso I can find only positive things about the international living experience. For others, it\u2019s less important because they are planning to go home afterwards. But in my case, I had to go through this so I was forced to work hard, to study hard, to apply what I learned, and to [further my] education. I rely a lot on my vocation because I like what I do; I like to help people because I think this world lacks empathy, because there are so many problems that we cannot even imagine that people develop in their lives. Learning things abroad is an incredible experience to me. I wish other people felt the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Next time you\u2019re walking down a hallway at one of Camosun\u2019s campuses and see a burnt-out light bulb, don\u2019t sweat it: the college has enough money to replace that bulb, thanks to the tuition paid by international students. But is it fair for international students to be paying for lighting, maintenance, and whatever else their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-january-18-2017"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13253,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13252\/revisions\/13253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/NEXUS-27-9-COVER.jpg\")
<\/a>