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mcgill, concordia scramble to attract out-of-province students amid tuition fallout
english universities ask alumni to help finance new scholarships that will offset a 33-per-cent tuition hike for new applicants from the rest of canada.
jan 12 2024
5 minute read
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with application deadlines approaching, mcgill and concordia universities are counting on the generosity of alumni like high-profile business leader harley finkelstein as they scramble to convince out-of-province students they’re still welcome in quebec.
the two universities are asking former students to help finance new scholarships that will offset a 33-per-cent tuition hike for new applicants from the rest of canada.
though the scholarships mean most students will not have to pay more, english universities are still dealing with the aftermath of two months of uncertainty last fall while the government mulled over the tuition issue.
“proud to support this new award and scholarship at mcgill,” finkelstein, the president of e-commerce giant shopify, told his followers in a social media post last month that included a link to a donation page. “ mcgill is the pride and joy of our city, province and country.”
born in montreal but raised in florida, finkelstein got his entrepreneurial start selling t-shirts to finance his education at mcgill . he went on to finish his degree at concordia. now a top executive at one of canada’s largest public companies, he recently moved back to montreal from ottawa, where shopify is headquartered.
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in october, quebec said it would almost double tuition for out-of-province undergraduate and non-thesis graduate students, setting it at $17,000, up from $9,000. two months later, it relented somewhat, saying the universities must charge $12,000, a $3,000 increase.
but at $12,000, quebec tuition for these students will still be high. that’s about double what it costs to study in arts and science programs at the university of toronto and the university of british columbia, mcgill says.
scholarships will cancel out the hike for many students.
mcgill has announced the canada award , a $3,000 annual scholarship for undergraduate students studying in arts, agricultural and environmental sciences, music, education, architecture, nursing and science.
concordia launched the canada scholars award , an undergraduate scholarship providing between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, depending on the student’s grades upon admission.
concordia university’s ev building at the corner of guy and ste-catherine sts.
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
at concordia, undergraduate applications from the rest of canada are down 30 per cent compared to last year, university spokesperson vannina maestracci told the montreal gazette.
the drop in applications is unprecedented in recent memory, maestracci said.
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“although it is not entirely possible to know exactly why students are applying or not since they do not tell us, it seems clear that this is the result of the confusion and negative message sent by the government throughout the fall,” she said.
students from the rest of canada have until march 1 to apply to concordia.
mcgill’s deadline is less than three weeks away – feb. 1.
as of early december, out-of-province applications to mcgill were down 20 per cent. the university would not supply an updated figure this week.
but in a statement to the gazette, mcgill said many out-of-province students have enquired about the new scholarships. “we’ll only know the full impact of the canada award on recruitment once the deadline for applications closes,” the school said.
the tuition changes are part of premier françois legault’s effort to increase funding for french universities and reduce the number of non-french-speakers in quebec post-secondary institutions. most out-of-province and international students who come to quebec attend english universities.
in addition to hiking tuition, quebec is also imposing new french proficiency requirements for university students not from quebec.
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mcgill and concordia have said the tuition hike, coupled with a larger clawback of tuition paid by international students, could cost them tens of millions of dollars per year. they have raised the spectre of layoffs and program cuts.
neither concordia nor mcgill would say how much they have raised so far to help pay for the awards.
mcgill has said it may have to cut its budget to help finance the initiative. however, it hopes donations will underwrite much of the cost.
“we saw very heartwarming reactions from some mcgill alumni who want to step up to help canadian students from outside quebec ,” mcgill said in the statement.
“we are extremely grateful for the expressions of support. our loyal graduates recognize the value of a mcgill degree and want to provide the next generation with the opportunities that they gained from their time at mcgill.”
concordia, which is struggling under a growing deficit , said the awards will be financed through a combination of donations and university funding.
“we will be financing them with the generosity of donors — both through new donations and by redirecting existing awards that have been underused,” maestracci said. “the rest of the financing will come from our budget, which is already stretched.
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“but it’s a priority for us to keep welcoming out-of-province students. there will be a cost for us but we believe that maintaining student diversity is an investment for the university.”
bishop’s university in lennoxville is allowed to admit 825 out-of-province students next year at the old $9,000 tuition rate.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
bishop’s, quebec’s third and smallest english university, was given a partial exemption to the tuition hike. quebec will allow up to 825 out-of-province students to pay the old rate of $9,000.
“with these exemptions, we will be able to welcome the same number of (non-quebec) canadian students as usual,” said isabelle goyette, bishop’s vice-principal of finance and administration.
she said this will allow bishop’s to keep its traditional student body makeup — 55 per cent quebecers, 30 per cent from other provinces, and 15 per cent international. those are “ideal levels for our model,” goyette said.
as of dec. 21, 389 students from other provinces had applied to bishop’s for the fall 2024 school year, the university said.
that’s 11 per cent fewer applications compared to the same point in 2022. and it’s 36 per cent fewer than in 2021. bishop’s undergraduate deadline is april 1.
among the students not applying to bishop’s is ireland bassendowski of dawson creek, b.c.
she previously had her heart set on bishop’s for an education degree but looked elsewhere after the initial tuition hike was announced.
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she has now been accepted by the university of calgary, her father, clay bassendowski, told the gazette.
“although we love bishop’s, who knows what the government will do next year or the year after,” he said. “also, she doesn’t feel welcome. so alberta will benefit from this vibrant new student and future teacher.”
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