Feed the beast till it grows old and dies.
Last Friday, George Abbott, B.C. education minister, took off to China. During his trip, he'll meet with Beijing bigwigs to, according to his press release, "increase the number of international students in British Columbia by 50 per cent over the next four years" because in 2010 "more than 94,000 international students- spent more than $1.8 billion in B.C." Cha-ching.
Abbott's talking about all ages-from kindergarten up. But a healthy chunk of that $1.8 billion was spent at the University of British Columbia, home to at least 4,000 international students, the cash cows of post-secondary education. International students enrolled in a basic fouryear Bachelor of Arts program at UBC pay $21,962 in tuition each year. Tuition does not include housing, books, student fees and other expenses, which push combined education costs for Abbott's Chinese recruits into the stratosphere.
Meanwhile, among Canadians. According to UBC statistics, since 1998 to 2011, the tuition fee for non-international BA students rose 101 per cent from $2,295 to $4,608. During that same 13year period, student fees, which fund on-campus recreation and other things, more than quadrupled from $193 to $816 per year. Today, the estimated combined cost for one year of BA studies at UBC (tuition, books, housing, etc.) equals $18,341. Ergo, your typical BA student spends at least $73,364, much of it borrowed and outstanding, before entering the workforce or a graduate program.
Three main factors drive student costs at UBC and other post-secondary institutions.
1) Demand: While China ships students over here, we ship our manufacturing base over there. Consequently, the demand for college education in Canada will continue to rise as well-paying jobs in factories and mills disappear forever. In Vancouver, even college graduates struggle to make ends meet in Canada's most expensive city. Those without a college diploma or degree often toil on the fringe of the economy, pouring lattes or mowing lawns. In Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»high schools, a high graduation rate (82 per cent) buoyed by large numbers of Asian students stiffens competition for college admission.
2) Bloated administration: Last year, it cost $2 billion to run UBC. The province (that's you, the taxpayer) kicked in $742 million while the federal government (you again) provided $257 million. The rest came from tuition and other fees. To be fair, UBC's a great school. Last week, the Times Higher Education Reputation Rankings ranked UBC 25th among the world's top 100 universities. But like most postsecondary institutions, despite Internet integration, UBC relies on an antiquated model virtually unchanged since the Second World War. Four-year entry degrees. Topheavy departments and bloated faculty. There are 10,091 professors and instructors at UBC. Many help create doctors, engineers, teachers and technicians. However, others teach courses (Sanskrit, for example) undeserving of public funds. According to Academically Adrift, a 2011 book by New York University professor Richard Arum, after two years of college, 42 per cent of American students demonstrate no advancement in critical thinking due, in part, to a glut of useless courses.
3) Student loans: Virtually anyone can secure a low-interest student loan in B.C. A large pool of loan-flush high school graduates represents guaranteed income for colleges and universities. Last fall, Occupy Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»protesters railed against "high" tuition fees outside the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Art Gallery yet ignored the chief beneficiaries of tuition. In 2011, UBC president Stephen Toope made $528,504, a 134 per cent increase from 1999 when then-president Martha Piper made $226,407. Toope also claimed $125,665 in expenses. At UBC's Sauder School of Business, at least seven professors make more than $300,000 per year, topped by Daniel Skarlicki's $438,660.
George Abbott's student recruitment trip to China will feed B.C.'s education racket, which flourishes on the leafy campus of UBC. But change is coming. Online teaching-tools such as Khan Academy, which is revolutionizing K-12 schools in the United States, represent the future of post-secondary education. Small cheaper colleges, already popular among Asian immigrants, will continue to sprout around the Lower Mainland. Deep cuts to government funding of big schools like UBC will help birth a leaner meaner college model. So we can compete with the Chinese. Or work for them. Here, there and everywhere.
Twitter: @MarkHasiuk
