UBC’s annual tuition engagement process has begun for the 2023/24 academic year, once again drawing criticism from students.
Each year, UBC launches a month-long tuition engagement process, which involves publicizing a breakdown of its budget and proposed tuition increases, in addition to seeking student feedback through an online survey that closes this year on October 31.
In accordance with the provincial cap, tuition increases for domestic students have been proposed as two per cent. Returning international students, who normally face an increase between two to five per cent, can expect to see an increase of three per cent under UBC’s proposal this year, while new international students can expect a five per cent increase.
Last year, tuition increased by two per cent for domestic and returning international students and four per cent for new international students.
The numerical increase for each student will vary based on their degree. A breakdown of each program can be found on the UBC consultation website under “What will the increase cost me?”
Unlike previous years, however, students and people across BC are facing added financial pressure from rapidly rising cost of living. International crises such as the Ukraine war and COVID-19 have disrupted supply chains, inflating the price of housing, gas and food prices significantly while wage increases have largely not kept pace.
Alirod Ameri, who graduated from the Faculty of Science in 2021 and returned as a graduate student in 2022, has opposed the tuition increases every year. Although he is still opposed this year, Ameri said that the unique circumstances facing the university has made him make slightly different considerations.
“This year, with the current financial environment, especially with inflation … from the university’s perspective, it is justifiable for them to increase tuition by two per cent,” Ameri said.
Ameri said he thinks it’s good that a sizable portion of the tuition funding is going toward staffing and supporting initiatives such as equity, diversity and inclusion.
However, Ameri said he is concerned about the rise in general costs of living, which he thinks have been much more “significant than tuition increases” in negatively impacting the student experience.
“Things have gotten way worse, and it doesn’t show signs of getting better. The university needs to develop some sort of long-term strategy to really address these student experience concerns,” Ameri said.
Food insecurity has been on the rise across university campuses, with a recent survey indicating that 37 per cent of UBC Vancouver students report low to very low food security. The increase in demand for affordable food comes as many campus initiatives that provide support, such as Fooood, Sprouts and the AMS Food Bank, have either closed or reported lower funding and operational capacity than the previous year.
Squeezed by a high-demand, low-supply rental market, students also reported difficulty finding affordable housing near campus.
Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, said in a statement that the university “understands current inflationary and associated cost of living pressures are a challenge for some of our students.”
Ramsey provided examples of initiatives related to affordability, such as a 20 per cent increase in non-repayable financial assistance between 2021/22, plans to explore recommendations made in the Student Affordability Task Force report, and a recent $500,000 increase in funding for food security initiatives authorized by former President Santa Ono.
Ramsey said funding for food security programs was not reduced — rather, there was a one-time $65,000 grant provided through the Food Security Initiative COVID-19 in 2021, which was not renewed.
Rayan Aich, a third-year arts student, cited the university’s lack of action on these problems as his reason for opposing the increases.
“If students are still facing huge problems … you’re obviously not putting the money towards initiatives that are assisting with student well-being,” Aich said.
Aich said that the cost of supporting organizations such as Sprouts and the AMS Food Bank is “negligible” when put in context with UBC’s budget.
“Even if we doubled funding for these organizations, it’s still less than a percentage point of the money you’re getting from the tuition increases,” Aich said. “So I really don’t know why you’re cutting funding.”
Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, said in a statement that the university “understands current inflationary and associated cost of living pressures are a challenge for some of our students.”
Ramsey provided examples of initiatives related to affordability, such as a 20 per cent increase in non-repayable financial assistance between 2021/22, plans to explore recommendations made in the Student Affordability Task Force report, and a recent $500,000 increase in funding for food security initiatives authorized by former President Santa Ono.
Ramsey said funding for food security programs was not reduced — rather, there was a one-time $65,000 grant provided through the Food Security Initiative COVID-19 in 2021, which was not renewed.
Aich said if the university is making meaningful progress on combating the problems students care about, they are not clearly communicating these solutions to students, who are being kept “out of the loop.”
He also sees the one-time $500,000 increase to food insecurity as a short-term solution that only came after significant student pressure.
“It’s like you’ve shot yourself in the foot, and you’re applying a band-aid to the gunshot wound,” Aich said.
After the student survey closes on October 31, the committees of the Board of Governors will discuss the increase and feedback in November, followed by a vote on whether to approve the proposed increases and budget by the full Board at its December 5 meeting..
Ramsey said the engagement process is crucial to gauging student opinion on how to invest funds collected from the increases, noting that the university has made greater investments in student health and well-being initiatives, heeding to feedback from last year’s survey.
Ameri said he does not expect this year’s engagement process to be any different than the recent past, when UBC proceeded to increase tuition each year despite overwhelming student opposition. He said the process exists because UBC “wants to give the impression that they’re listening to students.”
Aich echoed the same view, saying he shares the cynicism he has observed in the student community at large about whether UBC will listen to students.
“I think it falls upon deaf ears, and that’s frustrating because the university claims to care about its students,” Aich said. “When you try to get our input, but then you’re not even listening to it, it’s odd to me.”