British Columbia students who wanted to continue their university studies in Quebec are seeing their plans fall apart after learning of tuition fees doubling at English-speaking universities in La Belle province.
Ireland Bassendowski, a student from Dawson Creek, had just received an acceptance email from Bishop’s University.
However, her joy at being accepted to the University of Quebec quickly faded when she learned that Quebec plans to double tuition fees for students from another province starting next fall.
“My daughter’s dream of studying at Bishop and becoming a high school math teacher was dashed because of tuition costs,” said her mother, Diane Bassendowski, in an interview with the Vancouver Sun.
“She went from a state of euphoria, where she was telling everyone at school that she was accepted, to a state of sadness,” she said.
The 17-year-old’s tuition fees are now estimated to be $50,000 higher than expected, forcing her to apply to the University of British Columbia.
Students avoiding Quebec?
Like Ireland, other students outside of Quebec are beginning to turn to other options in light of this change.
At least that’s what the BC Association of Institutes and Universities, which represents nine post-secondary educational institutions in the western province, believes, English-language media reported.
For its part, the British Columbia Student Alliance criticized this fee increase. According to President Manpreet Kaur, the solution “is not to increase tuition fees and impose a burden on students.”
“Governments must step in and adequately fund post-secondary education so that students, graduates, post-secondary institutions and the economy do better,” he added to the Vancouver Sun.