Should universities reduce tuition and fees for remote learning?

Overview of the issue

Read the following article adapted from, “University students frustrated by fees ahead of online semester amid COVID-19” by Kate McGillivray, and respond one of the two prompts: 1. Yes or No? Colleges ought to have greatly reduced tuition and ancillary fees to reflect the reality of students studying remotely without access to campus. Or 2. Yes or No? Colleges responded well to meet the needs of their students in the pandemic. In a five-paragraph essay, state your opinion in a clear thesis and support it with specific reasons and examples. You are required to contribute your own examples, and you are also required to cite correctly from the article at least two times. In-text citations are sufficient. University students frustrated by fees ahead of online semester amid COVID-19 by Kate McGillivray CBC, Aug 09, 2020 Ryerson student Nina Jeffery says it's difficult for students already under financial strain to pay fees for services may not be able to access. In about a month, Nina Jeffery will begin her fourth year studying media production at Ryerson University, and like many post-secondary students in Canada, most of her courses will be online. But even though her education now looks radically different, she says her tuition breakdown doesn't. She is not paying for the same type of education she signed up for when she started her program, so fees should reflect that. Some say they shouldn’t have to have to pay for building maintenance or athletics. Maeve McNaughton, a fellow Ryerson student, explains it this way: "We are paying a good amount towards campus maintenance, campus building access, athletics access, recreation... and we can't access any of them."That frustration isn't limited to students at Ryerson. Ryerson University, however, tells CBC Toronto its moving many of its services, for example, its career centre, online. Nate Denaro, a student at York University, has calculated that even with a reduced fee, he'll spend about $270 this coming school year on athletics and recreation, saying the school's decision to not drop the fee altogether is "outrageous." Fifi Wei, set to start her first year at Sheridan College, was also surprised by what she saw when she looked at the fine print of her tuition. They charge a lot of fees that actually aren't applicable for students who study at home, citing an on-campus health centre charge as an example. Wei wrote Sheridan, asking them to reconsider, but was told the fees are not optional. Almost as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began and post-secondary classes began migrating online, students began lobbying for refunds and tuition and fee reductions. At Ryerson and other schools, online petitions have sprung up to ask university administrations to reconsider how much they charge. Julia Pereira, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA), says the frustration around fees and tuition in general reflect the deep economic uncertainty students are facing. Many students have really struggled to find a job over the summer, too. Pereira says student unions at the eight universities her organization represents have been trying to bring down fees to reflect that. For example, at her own school, Laurier University, Pereira says the student union has reduced clubs fees, while other universities have negotiated to remove the fee for bus passes. Pereira also says that OUSA has been trying to address the larger affordability problem by calling on the province to "enhance OSAP and give students more financial aid" as well as asking it to better fund universities so they don't need to rely on ancillary fees paid by students. For their part, the post-secondary institutions contacted by CBC Toronto say they are sensitive to the economic difficulties their students are facing, and some are adjusting fees to reflect that. At Sheridan, for example, fees that support athletic facilities have been cut altogether. York and Ryerson stress that many services, like career and library services, are being moved online, so the fees must remain in place. Colleges and universities claim that overall tuition can't be changed, saying virtual instruction costs the same amount and has the same outcome as in-person classes. Ryerson student Maeve McNaughton understands the need to pay tuition to support her professors, but believes ancillary fees should be lowered. Between paying for housing, finding jobs and trying to stay safe during a pandemic, young adults "have so much else to worry about," she said. For her part, McNaughton isn't hopeful that anything will change in the final weeks before school begins, but says she'll continue to advocate all the same. "I do think it's the university's responsibility to prepare for events like this. And they shouldn't be asking students individually to pay for their maintenance when we can't use the campus."