$1 for Tuition

Anti-tuition campaigns underway on campus

NewsJustin Giovannetti — Published September 21, 2010

A petition being circulated by Free Education Montreal, an organization advocating that education is a societal right and not a privilege, is calling for the university to reverse unannounced increases to international students’ tuition over the summer of 2009.

“This didn’t come out of nowhere,” said Erik Chevrier, a spokesperson for Free Education Montreal. “We are circulating this petition because the university was raising tuition without telling students.”

With the tuition of some international students rising by as much as 50 per cent between the time they left their home countries and the time they landed in Montreal, the petition is calling for Concordia to reimburse affected students.

The petition, to be presented at Concordia’s Board of Governors on Sept. 30, also calls for greater transparency about the tuition increases and the amount of money that the increases generated.

“We are trying to work at all levels of the university so that administrators, faculty and students can hear our concerns,” said Chevrier, who stated that members of Free Education Montreal sit on the university’s Senate and Board of Governors.

“We want the administration to know that we aren’t happy with the tuition increases,” Chevrier continued.

Dollar Campaign

$1. That’s how much the Concordia Student Union, the Graduate Student Association and Free Education Montreal want students to pay towards tuition before the payment deadline.

“We are trying to make a point. Tuition is rising and we are trying to raise awareness among students, they have a right to know the consequences of higher tuition,” said CSU VP External and Projects Adrien Severyns.

A $1 payment, made before the payment deadline of Sept. 30, will appear on the university’s payment sheet and display dissatisfaction with rising tuition.

“The response we have gotten has been very positive,” said Severyns. “We are trying to reach out to as many students as possible.”
The outreach might be necessary, according to Chevrier. Despite the importance of the tuition debate and the size of the projected increase—up to $8,000 a year with ancillary fees—many undergraduate students still seem aloof.

“It seems that undergraduates are less informed,” said Chevrier. “I don’t know why, it seems they either aren’t being informed or they don’t care.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 06, published September 21, 2010.