After adding an extra credit of Italian to his course schedule in the winter term of 2007, David Giglio was shocked when he checked his QCARD and realized he owed Queen’s University more than $1,000.
“That was ridiculous; it couldn’t have been right,” Giglio told the Journal. “More than $1,000 for half a credit?” His shock over the sum of money led Giglio, Comm ’09, to the University’s Blue Book, where he found a breakdown of undergraduate course fees. Giglio was quick to realize the disparity of course fees commerce students had to pay for arts and science courses.
As a second-year commerce student, Giglio is required to take 5.5 credits for the year, out of which 1.5 must be arts and science courses.
Although the course fee for a half-credit arts and science course is $517.63 for an arts and science
student, a commerce student will have to pay $1,019.93 for the same course.
“This is a matter of equity and fairness,” Giglio said. “It is unjustifiable to charge students from different faculties different rates for the same course, with the same professor and the same tutorials.”
Last week, Giglio began a petition in his classes to raise awareness of the tuition inequality. In the first day, he managed to get over 200 signatures.
“The issue is that we are paying commerce tuition for arts and science courses,” Giglio said. “When your parents don’t dish you money for each course you take, then this is when it becomes a problem.”
This matter becomes even more complicated for first-year commerce students who don’t make the cut-off for second year, Giglio said, citing friends of his who are in that situation.
Although they no longer belong to the School of Business, the istration will make special arrangements and allow these students to take commerce courses on a term of conditionality. Usually, these students have to maintain a certain mark to regain entrance into the program. Because they’re no longer in the commerce program, they aren’t required to pay the commerce tuition. “This is when it gets tricky,” Giglio said. “You can be sitting beside someone in your commerce class that is taking the course at an arts and science rate. “[Commerce students] have a lot of amenities and I don’t mind paying the institution for my commerce courses. I just don’t see how we have to pay the extra price for an arts course and someone else doesn’t.”
On Wednesday, Giglio met with Principal Hitchcock to discuss this issue and bring the petition to her attention. “This was the first time [Hitchcock] looked at it from a per course basis,” he said.
“She didn’t know that this was happening, but she is certain that there is a reason for this. Either because I’m in commerce I’ll pay a rate of commerce fees, or the incremental cost for the courses will go back to the School of Business.”
Hitchcock also recommended Giglio to get in with University Registrar Jo- Anne Brady from the Registrar’s office to answer further inquiries. “[Brady] told me that because I’m in commerce, I have to pay commerce rates for arts courses since they go towards my degree,” Giglio said. “If it is a special interest course, there is a process you can go through in which you don’t have to pay certain
fees, but those courses won’t go towards your degree.”
Brady said the difference in course fees for arts and science students and commerce students has to do with program requirements. “If a student is taking a course that is required for their degree, they will be charged at their program cost,” she said. “Regardless of what faculty delivers the course, the fee is based upon the program the student is enrolled in.”
Peter Kissick, director of the commerce program, said the fees are more for the program itself than for individual courses. “The student is certainly entitled to express his views,” Kissick said. “I would remind him that the fees commerce students pay are for the whole program—and the whole experience of being a commerce student— not just individual courses.”
In the meantime, Giglio has since dropped the Italian course.
“No, I didn’t take it,” he said. “I couldn’t afford it.”
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].