Higher learning hike

Lakehead University Student Union president Michael Snodden says he feels as if the university is treating international students like cash cows.

A report, scheduled to be discussed Thursday evening by the university Board of Governors, proposes to raise undergraduate student tuition fees by five per cent for the fourth consecutive year. The rise is more drastic for the university’s international students, who could see tuition costs spike by up to 10.26 per cent.

“We have international students who are saying ‘I won’t be back next year because I can’t afford to come and I don’t qualify for any scholarships,’” said Snodden. “It’s interesting how the university is hitting up an international recruitment office…but we’re turning students away because our tuition rates are so high.”

International students already pay about double for tuition to attend university here than their Canadian student counterparts do.

“The university is looking to get high-caliber, rich international students to come and put money into the university,” he said. “(They’re) supplementing the chronic problem that has come from the government of Ontario and the government of Canada who haven’t dedicated any new post-secondary education funding.”

Soban Khalid came to LU from Pakistan to study sociology. He said although university president Brian Stevenson is trumpeting the need for more international students, his actions don’t seem to match his words.

“It kind of reflects badly on the name of Lakehead itself, which can potentially, given some of the amazing people working here, come out as this really attractive institution,” he said. “I think a very sane step, a very sober step on the part of the university, would be to give some kind of financial assistance to international students.”

Khalid is an editor of the Argus, an A-student and an active member of the community.

“I’m participating in everything but I feel for all of this I will never be rewarded just because I’m an international student; it creates this feeling of being part of this marginal group in the university,” he said.

A crowd of about 100 students gathered to protest the hike in the LU Agora Thursday afternoon before the Board of Governors meeting began.

Snodden said the rally was organized to inform students of the tuition increase, and was done so despite the university’s request to not release the information until the day of the meeting.

“We felt we needed to do our members justice by letting them know their fees to education are going up,” he said. “Over four years, tuition has gone up about 20 per cent at Lakehead. We’re just saying this is unacceptable and we need to look at other options rather than taking from students all the time.”

Student union representatives are attending the meeting to offer alternatives to raising tuition.

Snodden said one is a proposal for senior administration as well as LUSU executives to take a 15 per cent pay cut.

He believes that 15 per cent would be enough to offset the cost of the proposed tuition increase.

The second option is to use the university’s $2 million surplus.
 
“The increase to the tuition would cost around $1.2 million so the university can afford not to break the backs of students,” Snodden said.

A member of the Board of Governors isn’t available to comment until after the meeting, which started at 4 p.m. Thursday.