Ontario: open for business to private universities

Students encourage debate as government welcomes institutions that charge up to four times the tuition of public universities

By: Pat Daley

  "Mike Harris is doing to universities what Ralph Klein has done to hospitals," says the chairperson of an organization representing 185,000 Ontario college and university students. And, says Joel Harden, the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario component (CFS) is ready to pull out all the stops in its fight against private universities if a June 7 meeting with the minister responsible doesn't result in a more open process.
  Harden won't reveal the CFS strategy. But he says at the very least the Ontario provincial government should bring in legislation and encourage public debate before taking "unprecedented" action to give private, for-profit companies degree-granting status in the province.
  When Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Diane Cunningham announced the policy change earlier this year, she was clear that the decision to allow private universities had already been made. A series of public consultations is looking only at the makeup of an appointed board to advise the minister on private companies, new college degree programs and ways to protect students financially.
  CFS and other opponents of the privatization plan won't be at those public consultations, says Harden. They were told there isn't enough room. Instead, CFS was offered a private meeting with Cunningham.
 

Private, for-profit universities "deflect attention away from [the government's] own legacy of undermining the public system through years of underfunding."

  In the last summer's election campaign, the Conservatives promised that "every willing and qualified Ontario student will continue to be able to attend college or university." And that means public institutions, Cunningham's communications advisor Kerry Delaney told Straight Goods.
  "This is about expanding the range of choices out there," Delaney said. Harden begs to differ, exclaiming: "It's not about creating opportunities; it's about taking them away."
  The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association (OCUFA) agrees, says Community & Government Relations Officer Mark Rosenfeld.
  The real purpose of private, for-profit universities, says an OCUFA research report, is to "deflect attention away from [the government's] own legacy of undermining the public system through years of underfunding."
  Delaney points to the $1 billion Superbuild Fund that is financing capital expansion on Ontario campuses as a sign of the government's commitment to funding colleges and universities. But, on the operating side, says OCUFA, a $280 million cut in 1996-97 had a cumulative effect of creating a $1.2 billion shortfall.
  "Private universities are the way the government thinks they can meet increasing demand at no cost," says Joel Harden. In the United States, however, private institutions get about 30% of their operating budgets from public funds, primarily through student assistance and research grants, he says.
  The Harris government has said that for-profit universities in Ontario will eventually be eligible for student financial assistance. Harden thinks research funding won't be far behind - especially if the for-profit companies are able to claim under the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that government funding is an unfair subsidy to public institutions.
  Unexus University, which offers an online Executive MBA program, has already received substantial public support, according to a Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) fact sheet. Operating out of New Brunswick, it was granted $375,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency and $225,000 from the Canada Jobs Fund for a total of $600,000 in one year, CUPE says.
  Ultimately, the question is whether students will want to attend private universities and at what cost?
  OCUFA's Rosenfeld said the companies that have shown interest in setting up shop in Ontario are aimed primarily at niche markets. Both the University of Phoenix, which operates a campus in Vancouver, and Unexus University are geared to working adults who want to upgrade.
  On its web site, Unexus describes a typical student: "fully employed as a manager in the advanced technology or information technology sector, or in an industry heavily affected by technological innovation." Not your 19-year-old raver into the liberal arts. There's good reason for that.
  A commerce degree from the University of Phoenix costs a total of $40,800, according to OCUFA, compared to $9,948 at the public University of British Columbia. Given that many corporations provide financial support for employees' continuing education, one wonders how much of the higher tuition fee actually comes out of a student's pocket.
  Unexus describes "long term relationships with repeat customers such as Nortel, Newbridge, Mitel, EDS Systemhouse, Computing Devices, JetForm and Lumonincs." If a student does need financial assistance, Unexus will arrange for a Bank of Montreal Student Line of Credit. Given the unwillingness of Canada's banks to continue administering the federal government's student loans program, it's fairly obvious that these students have money and potential advancement to back up their learning.
  Joel Harden thinks these courses are just a beginning. Right now, he says, these private universities are offering low-quality programs at premium prices. After a few years, however, they will be established and could actually compete, causing a brain drain from public institutions because higher fees mean they could offer things like a lower student/faculty ratio. And the higher tuition fees will have a ratcheting-up effect on public institutions, he says.
  "It's lower tuition fees that create accessibility," Harden says. "We have to do everything we can to stop this now."

Pat Daley is a freelance writer and editor in Athlone in Simcoe County, Ontario.

Get More/Do More
You can read about Unexus University at www.unexusu.com.

Try the University of Phoenix at www.uophx.edu.

To see what OCUFA has to say about private universities, visit www.ocufa.on.ca.

A student viewpoint is available from the Canadian Federation of Students at www.cfs-fcee.ca.

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