For the academic year 2013/14, the cost of pursuing an Undergraduate Degree in the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus is approximately J$252,164.00 per year. So for the student completing a four-year degree programme, not taking into consideration scheduled fee increases, it will cost just over one million Jamaican dollars!!! And the $1 million dollars is not all… there are also per annum miscellaneous or ancillary fees which are also payable to the University. These fees range from between $14,092 to $20, 092 and are dependent on whether the student is enrolled full or part time, and is resident (on campus) or non-resident. This is also separate from the cost of textbooks, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses associated with higher education.
Compare this scenario to our Caribbean neighbours, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago: the former offers a free university education to its nationals, while citizens of the latter benefit from a programme called Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE). This programme allows citizens to access varying levels of financial support for tuition fees and ranges between 50-100%. While the Jamaican Government has instituted some programmes to allow Jamaicans ease of access to higher education based on equity, the question of the high cost of education and its affordability for the regular citizen continues to be a sore point. In fact, many students who qualify for university are forced to either enter the work world prematurely or seek their parents’ help or loans whose repayment is a years-long process. Based therefore on its high costs in Jamaica, is tertiary education a debt sentence?
Thirty-two year old Roger*, a former student who got his Bachelor’s Degree through a student loan, does not believe that tertiary education can or should be defined as a ‘debt sentence’. “At the time, taking a student loan was the only way to have achieved my goal of higher education and as with any loan, there are risks. Loans are taken based on the premise that at the end of the degree period, there will be adequate jobs for everyone and good paying jobs so that the loan can be repaid,” he commented.
“The debt sentence”, he continued, “comes in when for whatever reason the individual is unable to repay the loan or finds himself in a revolving door of taking one loan to repay the other”.Nevertheless Roger maintains that tertiary education in and of itself, could not be described as a debt sentence. Senior part-time Lecturer in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Valerie Veira, while not agreeing fully with the ‘debt sentence’ label, believes that the achievement of tertiary education is something that everyone should aspire to gain. She acknowledges that there is a disconnection between the facilitation of higher education and the value which is placed on tertiary education.
“I am not advocating for the government to pay for tertiary education but because education is so critical to our development, it should be facilitated more through appropriate programmes that would create more efficientaccess [that would result in identifying appropriate jobs or revenue generating engagements once they have completed their studies,” she stated. This is the disconnect, she continued, which if not addressed will set a debt trap for students. Student Financial Services Supervisor at the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) Roselyn Vassell, notes that a very important factor in achieving tertiary education goals is financial planning. Financial Planning is the long-term process of managing finances to achieve long-term goals such as higher education, purchasing a home and retirement.
According to Ms. Vassell, the burden of responsibility is on parents to ensure proper financial planning for their children’s education. This, she says, will mitigate any setbacks at the time when their children do start their university education. “Students will have more confidence knowing that all they need to do is study hard because there is no need to stress about payment of fees,” she continued.
Ms. Vassell also indicated that there are myriad financial situations facing students at UCC. “The most significant are lack of adequate financing for tuition fees and students paying their fees late due to their inability to access funds.” Nonetheless, the University has put measures in place to assist students. These include offering a payment plan which allows students to pay in monthly installments as well as making referrals to financial institutions to access tuition loans.
Traditional financial institutions such as commercial banks, credit unions and insurance companies also offer an array of financial products to support long-term goals such as higher education; popular plans include Scotia Mint, NCB Omni Educator and the Sagicor Accumulator. These financial plans allow individuals to invest from the smallest to the largest sums over a longer period. Cash values may be accessed depending on the specific goals established.