My Gripe

University and College students across British Columbia are
holding rallies today to protest upcoming tuition fee increases. 
Tuition fees are expected to rise again this year by approximately
35%.  Currently, the national average for university-colleges and
colleges is just over $134 per credit.  In British Columbia, the
highest per credit tuition rate is slightly over $120.  The highest
rate.

All post-secondary institutions went through nearly a decade of a tuition
freeze which caused numerous layoffs (which continue to this day) of
support staff.  What that meant was that although students arrived at
their institution, the number of people able to help them declined. 
Ten years ago, the ratio of students to faculty and staff here was
3:1.  At the end of the tuition freeze it was 6:1 and now, after 2
years of rate hikes, the ratio is more like 7.5:1.

Now, see, where I go to school (not in British Columbia), tuition has
increased approx. 10% every year, which doesn't seem like much.  so,
I decided to see a comparison of a 10% annual increase from 1991 to 2004
in another Province compared to what's happened in British Columbia.  First off, let's assume that in 1991, students paid $50 per
credit in tuition.  In British Columbia, that was frozen for just
over a decade (illustrating a point --I'm quite sure it was just under a
decade).  In other provinces, let's assume it's increased annually by
10%.

BC's tuition would rise from $50 in 1991 to $118.46 in 2004(with a 30% increase
in 2002, 35% in 2003, and another 35% in 2004).  The 'other' province would
go from $50 in 1991 to $189.87 in 2004.

And, lo, BC's tuition rate for next year is slightly higher
than the 'other' province's rate in 1999. The other province sees an
increase of 280% in the timeframe and BC sees a 137% increase and the
students are crying.

Fine. Cry.

What students are learning here, aside from a little math ;) , is a life
application.  Inflation exists - get used to it. 

And this reminds me of something else of importance that I think
students need to learn these days:

Regardless of whether or not you accept it, NO is an answer just as often as
YES.

Students can cry and whine that they're not being treated fairly, but they
fail to see that post-secondary institutions in BC have failed to attract higher
quality faculty in the past decade because they can't afford to pay current
salaries based on their budgets.  Instead, they're hiring the people who
able to attract an offer from a higher paying institution. So, if your prof got
his Doctorate at a low-ranked institution, then the quality of their education
will reflect yours.  Education at a top university reflects a top-rated
education for the student.  In essence:

You get what you pay for.

I'm so sick of the whining about what students have to face these days when
we've all been there.  I see it this way, thanks to Edmund Blackadder of
the beautiful Black Adder series:

"I, however, am a well-rounded individual with a degree
from the University of Life, my diploma from the School of Hard Knocks, and
three gold stars from the Kindergarten of Getting the Shit Kicked Out of Me."

Which leaves us with one more important lesson for the day (thanks this
time to Denis Leary):

Life Sucks. Get a Fucking Helmet.