Claiming to be disadvantaged by the current funding system, the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) is calling on Quebec for an in-depth reform to stop the spiral of competition between universities and to obtain the right to increase more substantially, at the necessary, the obligatory institutional fees.
The current model “generates unbridled competition between universities, and we can see this very well in the Montreal region”, underlines in an interview with The duty the new rector, Stéphane Pallage, who took up his post a few months ago. There are 16 universities, he continues, including satellites, such as the small campus of Sherbrooke University in Longueuil, which are in competition. “It’s unhealthy,” he said.
UQAM has lost students in recent years. In the current model, the government gives money to universities for each enrollee, which encourages universities to fight for more students.
The institution recently submitted its brief to the Ministry of Higher Education as part of consultations on the review of university funding policy. She wants to see this way of doing things disappear and instead asks for fixed funding, up to “a minimum” of 70% of her needs, which would not depend on the number of students enrolled. UQAM thus proposes to rely on the characteristics of the establishments. “It would create a stability that would allow us to have real projects, over more than a year,” says the rector.
Although he refuses to see himself as a victim of the current functioning, he recognizes that there is “underfunding which is explained by the fact that certain rules involuntarily favor certain universities”. “We have two missions at UQAM: accessibility and being French-speaking,” he says. We absolutely do not want to deviate from that, but it has a cost. »
Review mandatory fees
UQAM also asks Quebec to “review the parameters for increasing mandatory institutional fees (FIO)”, to “ensure inter-establishment equity”. This fee is an invoice imposed on students by universities outside of tuition fees, and which funds certain services. Their increase is capped by annual indexation.
When asked if he wants to increase MIF more substantially at UQAM, the rector replies that historically, before the new cap was imposed, the choice at UQAM has generally been to charge lower fees than other universities. “But the costs, they are increasing, especially at the moment, underlines Stéphane Pallage, referring to inflation. We have not been able, so far, to have an increase in our fees because of the constraints currently imposed. »
“It would have been an option to increase the FIO. Personally, I am not keen on the idea of doing so. Having the option is one thing, using it is another, he continues. It is not necessarily UQAM’s desire to increase fees, and it certainly will not be mine. »
We have two missions at UQAM: accessibility and being French-speaking. We absolutely do not want to deviate from that, but it has a cost.
He wishes to draw Quebec’s attention to one of the elements that “in the past” affected UQAM, and which “widened the gap” with the other universities: “If there are no special envelopes which allow us to properly finance our accessibility mission, which is one of our requests to the ministry, for UQAM to be competitive and attractive, there must be revenues which make it possible to offset the increase in costs . »
Equalization on foreign fees
The rector of UQAM, who is not offered programs in English, also addresses the fact that English-speaking universities have access to a larger pool of students abroad, who are charged at high prices. For their part, French, Belgian and Luxembourg students pay the same amount as a student from Quebec or the rest of Canada, depending on the level and program of study, and the region chosen.
As proof, international students brought in nearly 105 million to Concordia University in 2021-2022, compared to nearly 13 million to UQAM. The latter proposes a few avenues to remedy this imbalance, including an equalization system, financed by a tax on deregulated tuition fees.
Stéphane Pallage gives the example of a foreign student who pays $90,000 for a year of study at McGill. “Part of this money would be taxed by the ministry and would replenish a fund which would make it possible to more adequately finance universities which do not benefit from such income”, illustrates the rector.