By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
EDUCATION Minister Jerome Fitzgerald yesterday said he has not yet received a request from College of The Bahamas officials on a proposed fee increase and stressed that the final approval for any tuition price hike would have to come from Cabinet, following “proper justification”.
However, he said, he expected a request from the College Council to be sent to him soon. Still, Mr Fitzgerald said it was too early to get worried about a fee increase, insisting that at the end of the day the government is focused on providing greater access to a college education.
His statements came days after The Tribune reported that COB’s College Council had passed a proposal geared towards increasing fees for the 2015 fall semester.
“I have not received any request from the College of The Bahamas as yet, with regard to increase in fees,” Mr Fitzgerald told The Tribune after coming out of a Cabinet meeting.
“I understand that the council will be sending a request shortly, when I receive that I will see what the justification is, I will then prepare a Cabinet paper where the matter will be discussed fully by the Cabinet.”
Mr Fitzgerald said yesterday that he believes that it is a bit premature to get worried about the proposed increase in fees.
“The government provides subvention just as it does to other private and independent schools throughout the commonwealth, no institution that receives government funding can have an increase in tuition without the minister’s approval,” he said.
“This case is particularly critical so it will go to Cabinet and if it is an issue of providing more funding or increasing fees, the government will make a decision on that based on recommendations that would be made after we would have had an analysis of it and speaking with the Ministry of Finance.
“At the end of the day, one way or another, the government will have to make up the increase or the shortfall. There are a lot of policy implications that are involved so at this point it’s a bit premature to get up in arms about it.”
According to reports, the council’s proposal will seek to increase tuition fees for lower level courses by 50 per cent and 33 per cent with respect to upper level courses.
When asked for comment, Mark Humes, president of the Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB), last week said that the “ill-timed” proposed hike in fees was rejected at the council level by both his union and the College of The Bahamas Union of Students (COBUS). However, approval votes were put forward by all other member of COB’s Council, The Tribune understands.
Presently, lower level courses are charged at a rate of $100 per credit. The proposed increase would move that rate to $150 per credit, bringing the average cost for a lower level course to $450 exclusive of value added tax (VAT).
In terms of those courses that are taken by students in their junior and senior years – upper level courses – fees will reflect an increase from $150 per credit to $200 per credit under the proposal.
According to Mr Fitzgerald, there is some growing concern that only 17 per cent of the nation’s population enrols in tertiary institutions. The Marathon representative added that the government is trying to encourage and promote greater access to tertiary level education across the country.
“Yes, we are moving to university status and the government is investing some $30 million through a loan, these are increased costs,” he said.
“These are some policy decisions we have to make and we will make those for the long term betterment of our people and the investment we are prepared to make from an education standpoint.”
Last month, College Council Chairman Alfred Sears said that there were no “immediate plans” to increase tuition fees as COB transitioned into a university.
However, at the time, Mr Sears said that the option was not “completely off the table”, as officials must ensure salaries of faculty and staff remain competitive.
The college’s transition process has been costed at around $16m. According to the Summary Budget Analysis of the 2014 fiscal year, COB earned a combined $20m in revenue through tuition, fees, sales and services.
Comments
duppyVAT 9 years, 7 months ago
Who gets all of these government scholarships and loans???????? Those who are in need or those who has special political/family/friends/lovers connections?????? How many (percentage) fulltime COB students are funded by government??????? Why does the government grant scholarships to students overseas for programmes offered at COB??????????? Do students who get government scholarships/loans ever repay or fulfil their obligations????? Is the Educ Loans Authority operating or is it another BAMSI ... a public drain??????
caribguy 9 years, 7 months ago
You'd be surprised (or not) to see exactly who gets these scholarships - sons and daughters of some of the most well-off in our society, children of doctors, lawyers, businessmen etc. Its been going on from time immemorial. I remember hearing them give out the National merit Scholarship, I think that's the highest scholarship given out by the government and I was shocked to see it going to the child of one of the most well known doctors in our society. Yes the child may be qualified, but lets be honest, does the child of one of the most wealthy men in the country really need that scholarship? Now the loans situation is another story...its who you know.
MartGM 9 years, 7 months ago
Those scholarships, from my knowledge and experience, are given based purely on academics. 5 BGCSE passes (C or above) will secure you a 2 year scholarship (excluding fees, tuition only). I graduated with 9 BGCSEs all A's and B's and as a result, I received a book stipend of $250 annually. This was over a decade, so things may have changed since then. I have friends and family members who have received these scholarships as well, all based on academics. I didn't need need to "know" anyone and nor did anyone in my family or any of my friends.
Perhaps there is some "favour" when you're speaking about Government grants and All Merit Scholarships to study abroad, but I have always known these COB specific scholarships to be based on BGCSE results.
duppyVAT 9 years, 7 months ago
COB is small fry money .................. 90% of the top scholarships that the government/Lyford Cay etc give out every year go to the private school children who are in the top 20% of society ................ these get the big money, go overseas to US, Canada and UK and NEVER come back. We talk about the ELA loan defaults as bad, but what happens when the 200 smartest kids get the best opportunities and NEVER come back home????? That is worst than a loan default to me.
B_I_D___ 9 years, 7 months ago
...in other words...we are going to talk sweet to you just now until you all calm down...then when you ain't paying attention we gonna pass that price hike!
Cobalt 9 years, 7 months ago
To be honest, I don't know why any student would choose to attend COB at this costs. Especially when universities abroad are offering "out of state tuition waivers" to qualified individuals. In other words..... Bahamian students are only required to pay the same amount of tuition that American students born in that state are required to pay. And I can assure you, per credit hour, some universities are cheaper than the price hike COB is proposing.
Furthermore...... according to global academic standards, COB is considered to be a non-accredited institution. As a result, many of their credits don't transfer to accredited universities abroad. So again..... this begs the question....... why would any student choose to attend COB???
My2cents 9 years, 7 months ago
That is interesting that COB would not meet that standard, please expand. Nonetheless, where there is no matriculation agreement, COB credits are evaluated credit by credit by a foreign credit evaluation service, and are usually accepted by most US schools. Do these US Universities not meet that standard as well?
Nonetheless, COB would still be cheaper for Bahamian students when room, board, and the students' inability to earn income are considered. Beside that, even without the global academic standard designation, the quality of education is on par with the US colleges you promote.
The solution here is no tuition increase is warranted, COB should be affordable for all Bahamians.
Cobalt 9 years, 7 months ago
Lol.... Credits are not what's evaluated when a student is seeking to transfer credits. The course itself is what is evaluated. This is why universities are required to have course catalogs. Some courses can have two, three, four, even five credits, if a lab is included. So I'm not sure what you meant when you said credits are evaluated credit by credit. Anyway, your statement regarding room and board is correct. However, students can gain willful employment while conducting studies abroad, but it has to be on campus and can only be up to 20hrs per week.
And I hate to say it again, but COB in not considered by global standards to be an accredited institution. I'm not telling you what I think..... I'm telling you what I know from passed and present experiences. I've got three nephews that have attended and graduated COB that can attest to this. COB's course catalog, course discription, course criteria, and course curriculum does not correspond with that of major universities. To be considered an accredited institution, your university must first be a member of the US Board of Collegiate Education and must be evaluated annually to meet a specific standard of academia. If students entering COB were asked to sit an ACT examination, most of them would failed miserably. This is not an indictment on the students, but a result of our failed education system in the Bahamas. For the most part, only private schools here in the Bahamas prepare students for advance college entrance examinations. And this is because schools such as SAC, St Andrews, and Kingsway Academy offer additional classes for US based exams. This is why so many of them ace the mediocre BGCSE. The only reason any student should attend COB is if he/she plans on attending UWI in Jamaica or Barbados.
If not..... they will find that most of their credit hours will not transfer to the US or Canada.
Cas0072 9 years, 7 months ago
Credit by credit, course by course, it's not really that big of a difference. I have attended COB for several semesters and my credits, courses, whatever were independently evaluated and applied with such ease that I basically stayed on track. And yes, I attended an accredited state university in the US. I had none of the issues you described except where I took West Indian literature and Bahamian Politics. I don't remember the exact names, but that was perfectly understandable. You can maybe argue that it is dependent on a person's major, otherwise you are just making generalizations.
Cobalt 9 years, 7 months ago
Really??? What courses transferred if you don't mind my asking. Because if they did indeed transfer, then the University of Florida owes my brother and nephews an explanation as to why they refused to accept COB electives and humanitarian courses. Their excuse was that COB was not an accredited academic institution. And this was pretty recent (Fall 2013). I would surely like to know what's going on so that I can throw your experience in their face.
Cas0072 9 years, 7 months ago
If what you are saying is correct then COB has truly deteriorated. My experience was 10-15 years ago. Many of the schools that I looked at referred international applicants to Josef Silny and Associates and these were in multiple states. I did not have any sciences at the point that I left. However, as I recall, my Math, English, humanities, and social science courses were all accepted by the two universities that I attended. I imagine that the University of Florida attracts many Bahamian students. Your question would be better posed to one of them.
caribguy 9 years, 7 months ago
My sister was able to transfer ALL of her credits from COB to the University of Virginia. She graduated with her BA in accounting in 2006 after only 1 year at the University because she was able to transfer all of her credits. My situation was a bit different. I graduated from COB in 2009 with an AA degree. That fall, I attended the University of Warwick in the UK (a UK top10 University). My offer to attend the university was conditional upon my graduation from COB with my degree, unless I would've been required to sit a full year of prerequisite courses. My degree was basically equivalent to their A-levels.
Cobalt 9 years, 7 months ago
Wow! Now I'm really upset!
I'm not certain if universities have changed their academic policies since then, but either way, something's foul. Are these universities taking this position simply to acquire more money from students? I really would like to know. I'm going to do more digging to find out for certain. If only for the benifit of potential students.
My2cents 9 years, 7 months ago
I think you understood that I meant the courses were evaluated, but transfer credits are counted. The purpose of foreign credential evaluation services is to compare apples to oranges. Perhaps if COB were a member of this board, it would not be required. However, I know this to be a requirement for all international transfer students. But thanks for your explanation regarding accreditation by the US Board...
The US department of Education has an extensive list of accredited colleges and Universities, and accrediting agencies. Some of these schools, including mine, are listed and I know for a fact that COB credits have been accepted by others on this list as well, after a course-by-course evaluation. Of course Govt. & politics, D grades and certain other credits are lost. But I maintain COB credits are not worthless in the US.
If your nephews' situation is the new normal for COB transfer students then COB needs to be overhauled, and standards improved not abandoned.
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