For two weeks, we have seen a panoply of figures, arguments and counter-arguments, but also myths and erroneous theories circulating about tuition fees for students from elsewhere. While not helping to understand the subject, the avalanche of opinions on university funding has demonstrated one thing: it is a complex subject that deserves in-depth discussion with universities.
To most of the easy phrases that have been thrown around, I can respond, at least, that the situation is more nuanced. Let’s start with these Ontario students who would come to “study at a discount” in Quebec while a Quebecer in Ontario pays $35,000 or more for his studies. With this example, we took an exception to make it the rule. We selected a few programs in medicine, law and administration, in a province, to compare them with those in Quebec.
The average tuition fees charged in Canada are $7,500 compared to $9,000 here for non-resident Canadian students. Above all, the vast majority of Canadian students from outside the province in Quebec study in the humanities, pure sciences and fine arts. And in these disciplines, it already currently costs $3,000 more for a student from Vancouver or Toronto to study in Quebec.
We have also heard widely that the deregulation of fees for international students has benefited English-speaking universities, leaving French-speaking universities underfunded. The picture is obviously more complex. Yes, the current framework — created by the government in 2018 — has generated an imbalance. But Concordia, which since its creation has been a university based on access to higher education, has never been rich. In addition, international students, except the French and Belgians who benefit from an exemption, are self-financing since the government – and therefore the Quebec taxpayer – does not subsidize them at the undergraduate level and in professional master’s programs.
For others which are the subject of a subsidy, the government draws revenue from these registrations as well as those of students from other provinces. English-speaking universities have given the government more than 300 million dollars since 2019 thanks to these registrations. These funds are then redistributed throughout the Quebec university network while only certain universities assume the costs related to the recruitment and support of these students. These are revenues that would decrease with the measures announced.
To complete this table, note that 69.2% of the revenue of French-speaking universities comes from government subsidies while these same subsidies reach 49.4% for English-speaking universities. Subsidies which of course ensure greater funding predictability.
Let’s also talk about the money granted to universities for infrastructure projects. This year, a very large part of this funding will in fact go to McGill for the Royal Victoria project. But this is circumstantial. A few years ago, the University of Montreal would have been in the lead with its MIL campus or HEC with its downtown campus. The financing of major projects is not done on a linguistic basis, but according to its relevance and in a sequence which allows the government not to make all the investments in the same budget year. For Concordia, this year this amounts to $36 million allocated through the Quebec Infrastructure Plan for renovations.
Different from each other
Which brings me to the shortcut, much used in recent days, of “English-speaking universities” presented as a monolithic block. However, they are all very different from each other — from the programs they offer to the student populations they welcome. For example, at Concordia, at least 54% of foreign students stay in Quebec after their studies. And above all, 70% of our students are from Quebec.
It is a discussion that takes into account all these complexities that must take place. A discussion that considers all of the revenues, subsidies, expenses and challenges of Quebec universities, as well as the important contribution of each of them to a knowledge ecosystem crucial for the future of Quebec. Let us avoid simplistic formulas which do not help to tackle the real problem: that of the underfunding of the entire university network, which has been denounced for years. The measures announced by the government are rather a disinvestment in the network, a redistribution of already existing funds, the total of which will certainly be reduced by the loss of students outside Quebec.
Above all, universities are not just about adding or subtracting numbers, columns of expenses or income. Let us not lose sight of their central mission of promoting knowledge, innovation and talent as well as their contributions to the Quebec economy and society as well as to the province’s international influence.