Report urges cuts to foreign student tuition

Canada's institutions must stop charging foreign students higher tuition fees than Canadians pay, a government report said recently, in a bid to attract more of the foreigners who have boosted the economy, writes Muhammad Iqbal for Business Recorder.

The report, prepared for Trade Minister Ed Fast,noted that Australia and New Zealand have eliminated differential tuition fees for foreign graduate and postdoctoral students, respectively. In Canada, foreign students pay from twice to six times more than local students to attend college or university. "Given the competition in the global international education market, educational policy-makers may need to re-examine the practice of differential tuitions and fees," the report concluded.

In October, Fast tasked a panel of university chiefs to come up with ways to attract more foreign students and researchers to the country, as part of Canada's overall economic strategy.
His spokesperson told AFP that the report will be incorporated into their proposals.

According to the document, foreign students contributed more than $8 billion to Canada's economy in 2010, up from $6.5 billion in 2008.
Full report on the Business Recorder site