Should education be free? Absolutely...kind of

Faculty and students of Cape Breton University advocate for free education.

Imagine a world where you get free post-secondary education, and can focus on improving yourself through educational means and improving chances for employment post graduation.

Well, this world does exist. In Europe and South America, for example.

Many nations within Europe have abolished tuition payments for students, as they believe a more educated population will only benefit their economies rather than hinder it, by straddling young students with debt. There’s a good amount of logic within this, but the federal government of Canada, regardless of which party rules, won’t tackle education reform for fear they might be branded as socialists or because, you know, education reform is a huge task.

The task is massive. Those who remember the health care reform that Canada underwent in the late 20th century can attest to this. For example, it would require political will from the parties, and a complete reinvention of the post-secondary education system. In particular, education reform would be increasingly difficult because post-secondary education is a provincial issue rather than a federal one (e.g. we have no centralized federal ministry of higher education). However, despite the task, free post-secondary education should be an essential component of our nation, to an extent.

Certainly, post-secondary education reform would be a contentious issue and could be a full out liberal versus conservative politicized debate. However, there has been little discourse from these parties regarding post-secondary reform since the declaration and statement from Cape Breton University to make tuition free. Much of the issue would also be related to taxes, and certainly some Canadians, myself included, hate taxes.

A commitment to universal healthcare and post-secondary education would require a complete rethinking of our current economy as we geared ourselves more towards heavy taxation–something which many fiscal conservatives are against. As we are currently seeing the Tories pushing their “balanced budget” rhetoric, it would be hard to envision a change in their philosophy where they want to take on more social programs and federal spending. Even if we made post-secondary education free, many issues could arise.

Firstly, our brightest Canadian academic minds would seek to leave Canada for other universities abroad which are willing to compensate them more for their work. According a study done by the European University Institute, a full professor in Canada makes $8,235.58 a month compared to a professor in Sweden who makes $5,133.73 a month. With free post-secondary education, there is a real possibility that Canada’s salaries would also decrease.

Secondly, an increase in the percentage of educated populace would benefit us intellectually, but an economy cannot survive solely on a bunch of academics sitting around a table pondering the questions of death. An economy has to be diverse and this requires different parts of the population doing different sorts of work.

Thirdly, if we gave everyone free university, it could lead to students taking forever to graduate. According to an article from Forbes, German students take longer to finish their post-secondary programs. Additionally, providing free tuition isn’t as simple as saying “Hey, here’s free education.” Depending on which discipline you want to study in, it requires more funding. Someone studying English or History only requires books and a professor, but someone studying bio-mechanical engineering (or science heavy disciplines in general) require sophisticated educational spaces and technology.

To get our nation to buy into a mentality of “free tuition is essential” would be another ordeal. Many people don’t see the need in being taxed more for something they may never use. The Swedes, Danes, and Nordic countries in general, have a socialist economy and pride themselves on their welfare states, but not every state can provide every service like them and remain economically competitive in an expanding global market economy.

Free tuition has its benefits, but it should not be 100 per cent free. Rather, it should be further subsidized by federal grants to the provincial ministries that handle higher education in their provinces. An educated populace is extremely important, but an extreme and radical shift to make post-secondary education free is not a responsible move and lacks considerable considerate thought.