Next time you’re walking down a hallway at one of Camosun’s campuses and see a burnt-out light bulb, don’t 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 leftover tuition fees go toward? I’ve been coming to the realization that Camosun isn’t getting the funding they need from the government, but is it okay for them to grab funds from international students?
When I spoke with international students for this story, they were—to a person—overwhelmingly positive toward Camosun as a supportive learning environment, even though they were also frustrated and, in the words of one student, feeling exploited, as though Camosun was asking for their blood.
What struck me talking to these students is that it seems like every international student comes to Canada looking for better opportunities and higher learning with supportive teachers—a second chance. In return, Camosun charges them more than they charge domestic students and tells them that, for an extra $850 a month (plus a $225 application fee), they can be part of a homestay environment. With homestay, they are supposed to get a room in a house, daily meals, and a home environment where they can learn Canadian culture and the English language.
But for international students, the reality is sometimes very different. Their homestay doesn’t feed them, fails to meet the student’s criteria, or imposes strict rules; one student I spoke with told me that their homestay was telling them what they could and couldn’t eat. They have to take classes part time so they can work to pay for living arrangements, increasing the length of their studies… and their debt. Or they must depend on their family back home, causing some students to feel like a burden.
Add to that Victoria’s current housing crisis and low minimum wage, and the aforementioned high tuition fees, and it becomes clear that some international students are finding the road to a better life more difficult than they expected.
CREATIVE REVENUE SYSTEM OR HARASSMENT?
At first glance, Camosun’s differing tuition fees for domestic and international students appears to be a case of grabbing as much money as possible from international students to make a profit. Unlike domestic students—whose tuition can’t be raised by more than two percent a year as per government regulations—international students seem to be at the mercy of an institution that needs more revenue.
Camosun International (CI) director Christiaan Bernard says that he wouldn’t 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.
“It all has to go back into the institution to provide either services, more courses, more sections… 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,” says Bernard. “So it’s really going back into the system to give them what they’re 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’re 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.”
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.
“It’s actually harassment, you could say,” says Jain. “I feel like when you come to a new place, you always want to pay not less, but comparatively. Equal.”
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.
“With most international students, the amount of tuition fees we are paying here, it’s unbelievably more than people can afford,” says Nath. “Before coming here, most of the students have a set budget that they know they’re going to spend on the tuition fee, but at the same time, they’re not really fully prepared about the rent and about the food expense, and about the other expenses that come with the studies—for example, books and your study materials. The college definitely provides them an overview, but, still, it’s way more.”
For students like Riccardo Tavazzani, who’s 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.
“I understand it; I just don’t feel it’s very good because it’s a lot more,” says Tavazzani. “We’re not talking about $1,000, $2,000… we’re talking about seven times more than a domestic student. But what can I say? It’s Canada. I don’t 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’m willing to pay.”
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Nath says that colleges have their own kind of funding—different from universities—and that this makes tuition policies at colleges unique.
“The 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,” says Nath. “It’s a very planned program, which definitely goes by the needs of the situation.”
And with the increase in international students attending Camosun over the past several years, Bernard says that Camosun has been able to stabilize services—and add additional ones—to the college.
“Some of those services are more counselling services, more services in the library, more services to support students’ success,” says Bernard. “I 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.”
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.
“We have a homestay counsellor who takes care of students, so she’s in charge of arranging their homestays as part of the requirement, taking care of all the other formalities,” says Nath. “Similarly, we have our international counsellors, where students can talk about their academic—as well as personal—issues, and they’re there to guide them. We have our special academic advisors, which is not the same as the domestic students’, 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.”
Bernard says the tuition that’s 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.
“In those offices, we have various people who speak most of our students’ native languages,” says Bernard. “So if they’re having some type of problem that’s beyond the scope of education, maybe an intensive emotional [problem], or they’ve run into a problem and it’s 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’t necessarily do it for everyone, but we do have the ability to contact other people outside the institution who can help, if needed.”
THE BIG REASON
Searching for a breakdown of the college’s 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?
Here’s 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’t subsidize international students’ 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).
As another example, a Business Administration bachelor’s degree is $23,850 for a domestic student; it’s $70,000 for an international student. That’s a difference of $46,150. Bernard says that it’s simply the difference between a subsidized system for domestic students and a user-pay system for international students.
“The $46,000 difference, most of that would go to the cost of offering programs to the student,” says Bernard. “And anything that’s 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’s services; sometimes it’s to ensure a program that’s being offered isn’t cut. So they use anything left over, it goes into general revenue and costs. The college uses it for various reasons or needs.”
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 that the government does not provide funding for international students, only domestic.)
“Most of the grants are toward the domestics,” says Nath. “A few of them are programmed in a way where international students can apply for it and can access it. That’s 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.”
THE UNSUBSIDIZED LIFE
While it’s true that some students—international and domestic—rely on their parents for support, that isn’t true of all students. Domestic students may be able to find funding through grants and scholarships, but that isn’t an option to many international students. Nath says many international students rely on their part-time jobs to get by.
“Even 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,” says Nath. “For 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’s 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.”
Nath also mentions other expenses, such as some health expenses, that international students may not expect. After the usual costs—like rent and food—school can become a lot more expensive than the students planned for, she says.
“So, 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’t work out.”
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.
“Even the education loan, it’s more than 10 percent interest,” says Jose, “so I asked for financial help from my family, so that I can repay them as soon as I can. For the first semester I’ll be asking, then trying to pay by myself for the second semester and the third semester, if possible.”
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—and pay for—the room he’s staying in.
“You can rely on someone else also, but most of the time, you must rely on yourself only for jobs and everything,” says Jain. “You don’t have many friends here when you come to a new place, so you can’t ask for money, or you can’t borrow things from your friends, as you don’t have many.”
But Bernard says that it’s important for people to understand how much international students are bringing to the institutions.
“They do pay significantly more, because they are not being subsidized by the federal or provincial government,” says Bernard. “Some people may say that they’re 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’t call it a profit because, at the end of the day, we’re at a zero balance, with everything going back into the institution. It’s up to the international students to determine if this environment is the environment that they want to be in. If it’s 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’re 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’s not even half as good as what Camosun is offering to their students. It’s pretty significant here.”
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’t love the fees. Jose says he is happy with the quality of teaching he’s getting at the college.
“At 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,” says Jose. “That was one great way in which I was able to quickly network with the Victoria communities. I find this school’s very interesting and very good for international students.”
Jain says he guesses he won’t 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.
“It will be challenging, but at least it can make you more independent,” says Jain, “and 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—money or anything. But coming to a new place, it’s a whole new experience, and, at times, it can be a good one and also a bad one. So I’m just looking forward to a good experience.”
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.
“I was concerned with my future back home,” says Tavazzani, “so I can find only positive things about the international living experience. For others, it’s 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.”