Student campaigns for lower international tuition
Photo by Phil Rushton.
A Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) director would like to see international-student tuition lowered, but understands it’s an uphill battle.
Carlos Suarez, international director of the CCSS, says international students face a lot of challenges, and lowering their tuition would greatly ease their worries.
But, according to Thevi Pather, director of Camosun College International, the government doesn’t subsidize tuition costs for international students, and colleges and universities are mandated to charge international students the full cost of tuition.
Although Suarez has been a Canadian citizen for six years, he knows firsthand the challenges many international students face. He took on his current role at the CCSS to address those challenges, focusing on lowering their tuition.
Suarez points out that although international students who apply to study in Canada have to prove that they can afford it, there are financial challenges they aren’t aware of until they are living here.
“It’s not only tuition, but also the fact that students have to pay for home-stays and agencies’ fees and a whole bunch of things that not every single student has to deal with,” says Suarez.
Pather says that most students are aware of the financial aspects of their education before they arrive at Camosun. He adds that due to lower costs of college tuition, international students at Camosun have a better deal than at a university.
“The cost for an international student to do a full course load at Camosun is about $5,700 per semester,” says Pather. “If that same student went to UVic or UBC, costs would be about $7,000-$8,000 per semester.”
At the same time, Pather admits students often face unforeseen financial difficulties; in those situations, Camosun College International will offer assistance, including payment plans.
“We’ve always been flexible in terms of accommodating students’ ability to pay tuition,” says Pather.
As a former international student himself, Pather says that the college does work towards catering towards the student’s needs.
“We mount extra services to support international students,” says Pather. “We have a department here to support international students on campus, and I would suggest that some of the services they get would be services domestic students don’t get.”
Suarez wants to appeal to the government with the ultimate goal of levelling the playing field in terms of tuition costs between international students and domestic students, particularly for those who hope to move to Canada.
But he says even a 10-percent reduction would greatly ease the difficulties international students face.
“It takes one person to make the best of everything for everybody. I wouldn’t mind writing a letter to the MLA to see what can be done for us,” says Suarez.
Suarez says as far as international students are concerned, anything would help in easing their transition into Canadian life.
“International students not only have to learn for their career, but a new culture,” he says. “I’ve been in the country for nine years and I’m still trying to understand many things.”
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