(Montreal) Quebec’s English-language universities are bracing for the potential financial consequences of the province’s decision to nearly double tuition fees for out-of-province students.
At McGill University in Montreal, the news has already had an impact as administrators say they are assessing the potential loss of revenue if students from outside Quebec were to choose to go elsewhere rather than pay the new higher fees.
In the wake of the Quebec government’s exit, the university postponed the announcement of an investment of 50 million in programs intended to help students, professors and staff develop their skills in French and “better integrate into Quebec society,” McGill said in a statement Thursday.
In a letter to the McGill community on Monday, Principal Deep Saini warned of “serious consequences” for the university. He asked “those responsible for spending to be careful” as administrators study the possible effects of the tuition increase — an increase of about $8,000 for Canadian students from outside the province.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry
Last Friday, the Quebec government announced that tuition fees for undergraduate students from other provinces would increase from $8,992 to approximately $17,000 per year starting next fall. Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry also said the government would charge universities $20,000 for each international student they recruit.
The decision should mainly affect the province’s three English-speaking universities — McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s — which welcome more non-Quebecers than French-speaking universities. Mr. Saini warned that rising tuition fees could deter future McGill students from other provinces and territories, who currently represent 20 per cent of the student population.
Premier François Legault defended the decision, saying Quebec taxpayers should not subsidize students from other provinces and calling the influx of English-speaking students a threat to the survival of the French language.
The principal of Bishop’s University, Sébastien Lebel-Grenier, says the financial impact of the increase in tuition fees could be “catastrophic” for his establishment in Sherbrooke, where nearly 30% of students come from other provinces.
We are looking at a potential loss of a quarter of our revenue. For a university, it’s not something you can manage, such a big change overnight.
Sébastien Lebel-Grenier, principal of Bishop’s University
He said the university hopes to talk with the Quebec government to find an arrangement that “will allow Bishop’s to continue,” but warned of “difficult, if not impossible choices,” including spending cuts, if the province is implementing the increase as planned.
“We already have very thin margins and we are extremely cautious in our spending,” he added. It’s hard to imagine how we could reduce spending. »
Concern about the future of Quebec’s English-speaking universities was also felt among the student population this week.
“I fear this proposed policy could be a death sentence,” said Sophia Stacey, president of the Bishop’s University Student Representative Council.
Mme Stacey — who is originally from Alberta and said she came to Quebec to learn French — will not be subject to the new tuition fees since they apply to students starting next fall or later . But she said the increase would have made the bill prohibitive for enrolling at Bishop’s.
“If I imagine myself at 17, a few years ago, applying to university… I wouldn’t have been able to come to Bishop’s, despite my enthusiasm,” she said.
With information from Sidhartha Banerjee