Implications of SFU Tuition Hike

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Simon Fraser University is feeling the budget cutbacks, deeply. The tuition is rising by 2 to 3 percents every semester, while cost of school budget is increasing 6 to 7 percent according to The Peak campus newspaper. What this is doing is destroying the reputation and the quality of education for SFU among the already stiff competition the university faces in terms of globally. Larger class size means fewer student attentions, which discourages student attendance because of the insignificance that individuals may feel among a class of maybe 300 to 400 people. Closure of SFU study centres like the Canadian Study Centre may be insignificant in some peoples’ eyes, but if the trend of closures continues to spread, soon the status of this university will likely be downgraded to the college status. Why is SFU, in specific, facing a harder financial time than the rest of the university in BC? Simply put, SFU is receiving more enrolments at both undergraduate and graduate levels. SFU is considered a university that while is not at the ivory-tower level of Western Canada like University of British Colmbia and University of Alberta, the increased demand of seats in all faculties will result in less Teaching Assistances available and even less sections of class available for offer as well. The adverse effects of the budget cut is fueled greater by the current economic recession, which if SFU is not forced to greater increase the tuition, SFU could face a deficit of 2 million by the end of fiscal year of 2010. While students complain about tuition hike, it is understandable that for a university that ranked as the best comprehensible university in Canada in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000 by the Maclean's Magazine, the annual 2 percent hike is certainly justifiable just to keep SFU operating under the line of budget.