Shaun Bernstein
Tessie Sanci
Phil Heidenreich
NEWS REPORTERS
Humber President John Davies said the college could meet the provincial government’s goal of increasing international student enrolment by 50 per cent over five years if Queen’s Park provides the necessary capital.
“Can we grow that amount? The answer is yes,” Davies said. “I’m an optimist in terms of government funding.”
The McGuinty government’s throne speech on Monday pledged to “aggressively promote Ontario post-secondary institutions abroad” to meet its goal.
Its five-year plan also promised to add 20,000 spaces for domestic students at all Ontario colleges and universities.
This is in addition to the increase of spaces designated for international students.
Davies lauded the increase, but noted the government previously acknowledged a shortfall of spaces for the more than 50,000 applicants to post-secondary schools in the GTA alone.
“It’s a start,” he said of the proposal. “But it will have to continue year after year to meet the kind of pressure that a college like Humber is facing.”
As is customary, the throne speech, an outline of the government’s agenda to begin a legislative session, did not provide specifics on funding. That usually appears in a budget, expected later this month.
To accommodate any flood of new students, Humber’s campuses would require major construction projects, said Michael Hatton, vice-president of academics.
“Humber needs more space, more buildings, more classrooms, more labs to handle the number of applications we currently have,” he said. “We need to grow dramatically to provide top-notch facilities for the number of applicants coming from Ontario and from outside Ontario as well.”
Of its 21,500 full-time students, there are about 2,000 from 80 foreign countries.
They pay an average of $12,000 per year in tuition, and roughly another $12,000 if they live on campus.
Hatton said these high tuition fees – Ontario residents pay an average of less than $5,000 tuition and $8,000 to live in residence – feed the college’s coffers but they alone can’t “solve problems related to Humber’s need for infrastructure” at all three campuses.To increase the number of foreign students, Humber would also have to step up its recruiting in other countries, said Wanda Buote, director of the international centre.
Humber currently employs three recruiters, primarily working in India, China, South Korea, Japan, and the Caribbean.
Another key feature of the throne speech was a government commitment to establish Toronto as a global financial centre.
According to the city’s website, Toronto is already North America’s third largest financial hub – behind New York and Chicago – with over 350, 000 jobs in banking, insurance and investment firms, and pension managers.
“We can capitalize on our international reputation for stability,” Davies said. “We came out of that tremendous banking problem better than anybody and Humber students will benefit from that.”
While the government’s policy could see the business school – the college’s largest with approximately 6,000 students – continue to grow, there are no immediate plans to add programs or increase enrolment, said Peter Madott, associate dean of business.
“Our strategy is not developed on a reactionary basis,” he said. “These are things we plan based on long-term trends in the marketplace.”
Although the government has promised more students – at home and abroad – an opportunity for a post-secondary education, not everyone involved was impressed.
“I was disappointed to hear that no measures were announced to help current students,” said Hamid Osman of the Canadian Federation of Students. “Students are paying the highest tuition fees and graduating with high debt. And, if they’re graduating with high debt, it’s hard to help out the economy.”