THUNDER BAY - The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for post-secondary students with campuses across the province primarily shut down, but international students at Lakehead University say they now have the added stress of being able to pay for school, with tuition increasing nearly 13 per cent for some programs.
“When I saw the increase, it means more stress to me, especially during this pandemic,” said commerce student, Abu Hena Mostofa Kamal.
“Right now there are so many things going on, all life has changed. There is no way we can make more money. There are less jobs, almost no support from the government, not back home, not from here. It means more stress for our families and for us.”
“I’m not from a rich family,” added Sai Durgabarjula, a third year mechanical engineering student. “International students do have money, but we save up that money to get a good education. I don’t mean to be rude in anyway, but saying international students have to bare the consequences regardless, that’s not right.”
According to Mishel Mani, a fourth year mechanical engineering student, tuition for engineering programs at Lakehead has seen a five per cent constant cumulative increase between 2016 and 2018. However, for the 2020/2021 academic year the increase is nearly 12 per cent, or $3,600 extra in tuition.
“We’ve constantly seen over the last couple of years they have been increasing our tuition but to say that in the middle of a pandemic is a little difficult for us given that we have less jobs now, it’s harder to make more money, and our parents are struggling now as well, so it makes it a difficult situation,” he said.
“The first thing I was thinking of was damage control when I learned of this tuition increase. I was thinking how can I save money? Maybe I shouldn’t stay on residence this year because that’s so expensive. Maybe I shouldn’t eat at the cafeteria. All this costs way more and adds stress and will probably play into the outcome of our programs.”
Domestic students also saw the constant increase of five percent between 2016 and 2018, but in 2019 tuition was decreased by 10 per cent and there are no increases for 2020/2021.
“It is commendable that they can do that for the domestic students, it’s just unfortunate that we have to pay the price,” Mani said.
The timing of the increase is especially frustrating for international students, who are already facing financial strain due to fewer summer employment opportunities or having to stay in Canada rather than returning home.
“I’ve decided to move off of campus because that will save me a lot of money,” said second year civil engineering student, Electra Coonjah. “I was living on campus because it was easier for international students. I was also supposed to fly back home, but now I have a lot more expenses because I’m staying here for the summer.”
“I thought it was very inconsiderate for our school to increase it during a time of crisis when students need support.”
According to David Barnett, provost and vice president academic with Lakehead University, the decision to increase tuition for international students was made before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“Tuition fee increases are made in order to maintain the comprehensive supports and services that Lakehead offers to all of its students,” he said. “The tuition fee adjustments made for the 2020/2021 academic year were established before the onset of the global pandemic.”
James Aldridge, vice provost international with Lakehead University, added the administration feels the anxiety of stress international students during this time and calls the timing of the increase unfortunate.
Lakehead has set up a student relief fund that has collected more than $100,000 in donations, which has been matched by university funds, to assist students with housing and food security during the pandemic.
“The funds supports we have established have been made available to both domestic and international students,” Aldridge said. “We have given out hundreds of thousands of dollars to students. We understand these are short-term stopgaps for students to fund things like housing costs and food costs at a difficult time.”
Aldridge added the university is looking at ways to further assist students through additional awards and bursaries.
But Aldridge and Barnett said while tuition fees for engineering programs have increased by nearly 13 per cent, most other programs only saw an increase of six per cent, which is on par with the provincial average.
“We are not inconsistent with what is going on at universities across Ontario,” Barnett said. “Most universities on average are in that five to 10 per cent range. Our numbers are closer to the six per cent.”
Barnett added that Lakehead University once had the lowest tuition fees for engineering programs in the province, and with the increase, it is still amongst the lowest.
But this provides little solace to international students who are already struggling with a difficult situation and were not directly told of the increase, but simply saw it applied to their tuition.
“A lot of people, if we didn’t talk about this now, would have known maybe a couple of days before they had to pay the tuition,” Mani said. “Can you imagine their parents having to have that $3,600 increase?”
“It’s very frustrating because I feel a lot of students want to be engaged because they want to be able to budget and understand where there money is going,” Coonjah added.
“As Lakehead knows, most of the international students are from developing countries and we want to see a reverse in the increase in fees for the upcoming year. We want to be part of an institution that cares about its students and not just about the money we bring in.”
