UBC takes comprehensive approach to student affordability

Affordability is a key challenge for students today and providing support to help address this is a priority for the University of British Columbia.

As of March 2024, the university has raised more than $33.4 million towards its goal of $100 million for the Student Affordability Initiative through FORWARD, the fundraising campaign for UBC.

UBC is also reducing cost and enhancing the availability of less expensive open educational resources. The university has also been successful in securing funding to offer $10/day child care in all infant and toddler program centres at its Vancouver campus.

In addition, over the next three years, the university will spend $2.4 million for food security initiatives on the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. This is in addition to $1.6 million allocated in 2022 and 2023.

These initiatives are part of a comprehensive approach to student affordability undertaken by the Student Affordability Task Force (SATF) Implementation Committee, co-led by Vice-President, Students, and the Provosts and Vice-Presidents, Academic, in Vancouver and the Okanagan. The implementation committee works closely with student leadership in the Alma Mater Society, Graduate Student Society and Student Union Okanagan.

The SATF was established in 2021 in response to growing concerns about the challenges students face when trying to manage the total cost of attending the university.

“UBC appreciates that affordability is a concern for students, not only at UBC, but at universities across Canada,” said Vice-President, Students, Dr. Ainsley Carry. “The university is committed, through the SATF, to supporting the health and wellbeing of our campus community.”

“There is work to be done in this crucial area. Multi-year funding will allow the university to support various projects and locations across both campuses that are targeting the issue,” added Dr. Carry. “The investment also allows us to take time to evaluate and consider longer-term projects.”

Cost and availability of child care is an issue for some students. This summer, UBC Vancouver opened two new centres for toddlers and kids at Brock Commons, a new centre is in development at Orchard Commons and two new centres will be included in the St. John’s College site redevelopment project. A second centre is under construction on the Okanagan campus and the university plans to apply for the $10/day child care at UBCO.

“The savings for parents who now have access to $10/day child care is substantial. A student with a child between the ages of three and five now saves $1,320 per month while a student whose child is an infant or toddler saves $1,155 per month,” said Dr. Gage Averill, UBC Vancouver Provost and Vice-President, Academic. “Crucially, these child-care spaces provide students with the ability to continue their studies, for faculty to teach and research, and for staff to support the university while pursuing their careers.”

UBC now operates child-care centres for 850 kids of students, faculty and staff, making the university one of the largest providers of child care in the province.

Another important aspect of student affordability is the cost of course materials, including textbooks, homework and quiz platforms, and other learning resources used in UBC courses.

A key outcome of SATF recommendations addressing the cost of course materials was the renewal of UBC funding to support creation, revision and use of Open Educational Resources (OER). OERs are teaching and learning materials with an open copyright model that allows for no-cost access, revision, reuse and redistribution. At UBCO, the Aspire-2040 Learning Transformations Fund has an OER Focus stream, and at UBCV, the OER Fund provides grants to support OER projects.

Both UBCV and UBCO also now have policies governing the use of fee-based digital learning tools used for assessment (such as homework and quiz platforms).

Adding to this effort is ensuring the continuation of funding for the adoption of OER into credit-based courses. Funding is in place through 2027 for UBCV and UBCO to continue with the adoption, adaptation, creation and integration of open educational resources into credit-based courses.

Donors to the university are engaged on the issue of student affordability through the FORWARD campaign’s Student Affordability Initiative.

“UBC Development and Alumni Engagement have appealed to the university’s alumni and donor community since 2022 with a goal of raising $100 million for the Student Affordability fund. Just a few months ago we counted 6,000 donors who have stepped up to help, contributing a combined $33.9 million toward that goal. Those donations support more than 1,400 needs-based financial awards at the university,” said Dr. Rehan Sadiq, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, at UBC Okanagan.

“Those supports include help for neurodiverse students, students with mental health issues and disabilities, and an emergency fund has been endowed to provide support for undergraduate students facing unexpected financial challenges that impact their well-being and threaten their capacity to continue their education. It’s a long list of supports and it will get longer as the SATF identifies additional areas that need help,” Dr. Sadiq added.

SATF was established in 2021 to define what the university means by “affordability,” to commit resources toward addressing student affordability, and to develop recommendations to address the affordability challenges students face. An Implementation Committee was established in the following year with representation of students, faculty, and staff from both campuses to implement and advance each of the recommendations. The Implementation Committee reports annually to the UBC Board of Governors.

The SATF Implementation Committee is working on 10 recommendations:

1. Develop a multi-year tuition framework
2. Provide tools to help students make informed financial decisions
3. Revise the annual tuition consultation process
4. Minimize costs of educational materials
5. Address cost of living challenges (food security, housing, child care)
6. Update student aid processes and procedures
7. Expand need-based aid for international students
8. Increase fundraising for need-based aid
9. Advocate for increased student financial assistance program at the provincial and federal government level
10. Develop indicators to monitor and assess student affordability over time

Reports detailing the evolution and progress being made on SATF’s 10 recommendations are available here:

• 2022
• 2023
• 2024

“The university is a very complex institution, and affordability in the university context is equally layered,” said Dr. Carry. “Understanding the needs, the university’s ability and role in addressing those needs and now implementing some of the SATF recommendations has required extensive work across both campuses.”

“Together with student leadership, the SATF has made remarkable progress not just for today’s students, but in establishing systems and processes that will benefit students for many years to come. We know this work is making a difference,” said Dr. Averill.