To the Office of the Governing Council, Meredith Strong and Josh Hass of the Office of the Vice-Provost, President William Robins and Dean Kelley Castle of Victoria College, and President Meric Gertler:
We are writing on behalf of the international students at Victoria College and are using this platform to raise concerns regarding the 5.3% average increase in international tuition fees that the University has refused to decrease, delay, or deny. International students have been more severely impacted than domestic students by the COVID-19 pandemic: cases have been skyrocketing in Brazil, India, the United States, and numerous other places since the beginning of the pandemic in March. Many students were kicked out of their residences during the school year and forced to fly back home to countries where the medical system is not as strong as Canada’s. Many of our families back home are facing worse difficulties than they would if they were in Canada. Moreover, finances and planning are a much bigger issue for international students when planning for a four-year degree in a foreign country, not to mention the absurd premium we are being charged. There are students who have failed to secure stable employment due to the pandemic and who aren’t sure if their families can still afford to pay tuition in the fall. In addition, international students are facing border closures, paying surge prices for emergency flights due to the University’s late release of their quarantine statement, and a wide variety of other financial challenges related to COVID-19. A survey of 200 international Rotman Commerce students showed that 88% of international students attributed a decline in their mental health to financial strain from the pandemic.
We ask that Victoria College officials lobby the University to support the international students left out of the Canada Student Emergency Benefit (CESB) program. Online learning does not justify an increase in tuition fees for international students; many students will be operating off of low-speed Wi-Fi connectivity and across multiple time zones, making the concept of synchronized learning untenable for these individuals. Furthermore, international students often do not qualify for government and school financial support. Pandemic aside, our tuition fees increase every year, even when domestic tuition is decreased. This is unfair; given that international tuition fees are extremely high and ever-increasing, many of us feel guilty for pursuing a degree overseas and begin to wonder whether it is worth all the money. We cannot receive government benefits, as we are not permanent residents or citizens. We are not asking for Canadian taxpayers’ money, but for a reduction to our original tuition costs, which some other universities have granted students for their betterment during this time. We are here alone, and the economy in our home countries are also suffering.
For students who will not even be in the country, it is illogical to pay for Hart House and other amenities that we cannot benefit from. We cannot opt-out of ancillary fees, even though many of the services (e.g. KPE facilitation) are unavailable to students who are studying from abroad. If “KPE’s Sports & Rec fee will be reduced by 30%, Hart House’s fee will be reduced by 20%, and Student Life’s fee will be reduced by 10%,” why shouldn’t 100% of these fees be reduced for students who will not be utilizing these services at all? It is frustrating to be reminded about your privileged standpoint, and to be expected, as international students, to participate in Hart House’s online synchronized yoga class at 3:00 AM to justify our spending. Thanks, but no thanks. While you may be helping employ Toronto-based individuals at your institution, let’s not forget that students overseas will not be able to access campus-based or even remote employment opportunities in Canada due to time zone differences. Synchronized classes are already particularly challenging for international students.
How can the University of Toronto/Victoria College help us financially?
1. We ask these officials to advocate for providing international students with an extension on study permits, making us eligible to take a gap year and graduate on track so that there isn’t any systemic discrimination towards us. This action can help improve our chances of immigrating to Canada later on in our careers.
2. We ask Vic officials in particular to introduce scholarships specifically for international students, which are essentially non-existent at this point — and the limited scholarships that do exist have tough criteria!
3. Lastly, we ask the University freeze tuition for international students, just as they have done for domestic students. This can stand as a commitment that the University takes in assisting international students—especially during a pandemic!
Student responses:
“It is really disheartening to have so much animosity towards an institution that is home to some of the most hard-working students and pivotal research; there is very little consideration to their wellbeing and humanity outside the classrooms. This has been evident before, with their delay in response to multiple actions that indicated severe mental illness and strain from their students, but is more so evident in the world we live in today. Help us, support us, YOU CANNOT OPERATE UNLESS WE DO. PERIOD.”
– Anonymous
“UofT has failed to be truly inclusive when planning for an academic year, as proven by international tuition fee increases during the worst pandemic of our generation. The whole world is reeling from the effects of the pandemic such that modes of income across the world have been severely affected—if not halted. In times like these, not only is the financial support provided to international students non-existent, but UofT has decided to implement fee increases. Coupled with this, the lack of options in taking a gap year without negative consequences has left students like me wondering how to even fund their education fully. The school needs to do a better job of supporting us.”
– Anonymous, Life Sciences student at Victoria College (expected graduation 2021).
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