Low tuitions luring Americans
November 14, 2009
Louise Brown
EDUCATION REPORTER
A U.S. customs agent once grilled Emily Nicotera about why she was leaving Buffalo to attend the University of Toronto: "Can't you study biology here in the States?"
Sure, she answered, "but private Ivy League schools in the U.S. cost $40,000 to $50,000, and my first year tuition at U of T is $13,000."
Now a U of T recruiter herself, she recalls "falling in love with the old buildings and appreciating the school's reputation – but cost was absolutely a factor, too."
American students are a hot target for Canadian colleges and universities as they scramble to sweeten their coffers and globalize their classrooms.
Our fees may seem like a deal to them, but Americans coming here are a money-maker for Ontario's big schools, which charge foreign students more than twice as much tuition to compensate for the loss of the $8,550 provincial grant that each local student generates.
Adding up the tuition fees, books, lodging, transportation and discretionary spending, international students pump about $6.5 billion into the Canadian economy, says a recent federal report.
But schools insist international students are more than cash cows; they bring an intellectual diversity that is key to a global economy.
"Recruitment in the U.S. is a no-brainer because there's no culture shock or language barrier. We're seeing such a spike in applications," said Dalila Suhonjic at Seneca College, which this fall attended big college fairs in Baltimore and Boston for the first time.
"We used to compete with American schools and now we're poaching from them," she said. "But I don't think we've done enough to put Canada on the map."
In hopes of changing that, Ottawa is putting up money to promote our universities and colleges around the world – $2 million over two years will go to set up a marketing website and to help our embassy in Washington organize a first-ever marketing tour by 30 Canadian schools to Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Stamford, Conn.
The number of Americans studying in Canada has tripled in the last decade to more than 8,000, and embassy officials expect it to top 10,000 this year.
Yet the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada says Ottawa should spend far more – $20 million a year for five years – to compete with powerhouse marketing campaigns by the United Kingdom and Australia. The latter thinks nothing of sending a live kangaroo to hop through U.S. college fairs.
"Canada has a great story to tell; we've set up new scholarships for international PhDs and we have much more flexible rules allowing international students to work," said Pari Johnston, executive director of the association.
Canada still can be a tough sell south of the border, says U of T recruiter David Zutautas.
"A large part of our job is explaining geography; students in the Midwest think nothing of going to Boston, but wouldn't dream of coming to Canada" even though most of our big schools are far closer, he said.
Many Americans also harbour Great White North weather stereotypes, he said, "even though Buffalo gets more snow than Toronto."
Still, the hardest part is persuading Americans that Canada's public universities and colleges are top quality as well as affordable.
"It's the same as the health care debate – they think it's not as prestigious if it's not private."
Toronto Star