University Education In Canada Is It Worth It?

Breaking it down  Question: Is obtaining an Undergraduate University degree in Canada worth it? Introduction: What will you learn? The Cost: What will your education cost? The Return: What kind of job will you get? What will your salary be? The Comparison: Is it worth it?

Introduction What will you learn?

 In 2009/2010, there were 1, 203, 894 students enrolled in university in Canada.  These students participated in degree programs spread across 13 subject categories.  These 13 categories represent a broad range of degree choices.

What will you learn? Personal improvement and leisure Education Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies Humanities Social and behavioral sciences and law Business, management and public administration Physical and life sciences and technologies Mathematics, computer and information sciences Architecture, engineering and related technologies Agriculture, natural resources and conservation Health, parks, recreation and fitness Personal, protective and transportation services Other instructional programs

What will you learn?  So what are students studying? (2009/2010)  Three most popular Program Categories (51.5% of all students) Humanities: 17.60% Business: 17.10% Social and Behavioral Sciences: 16.80%  Least popular programs (minimum 5% enrollment): Education: 6.96% Physical and Life Sciences: 7.65% Engineering and Architecture: 8.22% Stats Canada

What will you learn?  With so many choices are students making the right choice?  Are the most popular programs those with the largest payouts?

The Cost What will your education cost?

The Cost  The Question on every prospective university student’s mind: What is University going to cost me?

The Cost  Tuition Fees in Canada have been steadily rising over the past number of years.  Universities are charging more per year, forcing students to become more reliant on student loans and programs like OSAP.  Tuition Hikes have made headlines recently in Quebec where students are protesting against these rises in tuition prices. (video)

The Cost

 What will 4 years of University tuition cost you? (enrollment in 2012)  Taking into account the increases per year based on the current trend: $22640  Our graduating year of University, the national average for tuition prices will nearly surpass the $6000 mark.

The Cost  How much debt will you have upon graduation?

The Return What kind of job will you get? What will your salary be?

The Return  Before considering the eventual payout of individual programs, we must consider the possibility of no payout at all: Unemployment.

The Return  Youth Unemployment in Canada “the situation is bad…”  The unemployment rate for Canadian youth is 14.7%. This figure includes, and has the greatest effect on new university graduates.  Of the 85.3% who do find jobs, many will not find one in their field.  Students are graduating with degrees they may never use; jobless or underemployed and stuck with student debt.

The Cost

The Return

 Meet Sandrine She is a customer service technical support rep at Bell Canada.  Sandrine is a Canadian University graduate with a degree biological sciences and a certificate in community health.  She has $25,000 of student debt and makes $11.60 an hour.  National Post utube.com/watc h?v=v2TbQrkk- wk

The Return  Youth unemployment and underemployment is at an all time high in Canada.  When you go to university you risk being one of the many with too many bills and too little pay per hour.

The Return  Despite this, many graduates do find rewarding careers!  Although not always immediately, most will eventually find a job in which their University skills will be put to use in a professional environment.

The Return

The Comparison Is it worth it?

The Return

The Comparison  Raw Data Age groups Less than high schoolHigh schoolTradesCollegeUniversity All age groups 20,83328,03834,67036,78557, to 24 14,88214,28820,37116,58115, to 29 21,82625,23128,72829,31232, to 34 25,32831,02333,09735,20947, to 39 27,79534,74335,83039,69858, to 44 29,77937,03038,60044,18268, to 49 31,68239,62841,94346,69576, to 54 31,40139,59742,10146,76978, to 59 28,80535,93238,57842,27372, to 64 24,86829,03131,44833,62964,233

The Comparison

 Over the course of their lifetime, a University graduate will make nearly $1 Million more than any other level of education.  This includes the costs of tuition.  What would you choose? Spend $22640 over 4 years, with a low income, to eventually make $1,000,000 Or, make money right away?

Conclusion University Is Worth it.

Conclusion: Recap  If you are passionate about a subject, go to university!  You are statistically likely to make more money than a college, trades or high school graduate.  You are statistically more likely to make $1 million going to University than if you buy lottery tickets your whole life.