<p>US News reports that the number of U.S. students in Canadian colleges and universities is growing, with affordability being a major factor in this increase.
[quote]
According to each university, here is what it costs for a year of undergraduate tuition at a select group of U.S. and Canadian universities:
• University of Chicago - $45,945
• George Washington - $45,780
• Stanford - $41,250
• McMaster (Hamilton, Ontario) - $20,966
• McGill - $14,561
• University of Winnipeg - $11,115
<p>Of course, they don't compare in-state tuition at many excellent state universities in the U.S. - that comparison would look far less dramatic. </p>
<p>The article credits robust government support of higher ed in Canada. If this is the case, one wonders if at some point Canadian schools might be forced to adopt a dual tuition structure, much like state schools in the U.S.</p>
<p>happymom1…Yes, those are rates for internationals. With fees added to tuition, a BA at McGill is 16,887 for 2013-2014 for internationals; total COA for internationals is in the low 30K’s (don’t have exact R&B numbers in front of me). A caveat…those numbers will vary by major and by province. Engineering, for example, is significantly more at McGill. (COA in the mid-40s.) Across the board expenses are somewhat higher at Ontario universities than at those in Quebec, for example. I don’t know as much about other provinces. </p>
<p>Canadian citizens resident in the US (e.g., my DS, currently a high school junior and a dual citizen) pay the domestic rate, which yields a COA for engineering of 22K-30K, depending on province. DS didn’t much care for McGill when we toured, but we’re taking a good look at Waterloo (very strong in STEM with a good coop program) and Queens (strong in Eng’g with a more small uni/LAC-ish vibe).</p>
<p>This has always been the case with McGill being the big name school. The numbers were soooo much better some years ago (werent’ they all?), and considered a great deal. Now they are comparable,somewhat lower, than OOS publics.</p>
<p>I have tried without success to figure out of my children can get their duel citizenship. My mother is Canadian so I qualify, but I was born in the US, as were my three kids. So I assume it would not be able to be passed from me to them? If you have any idea, it would be greatly appreciated! After hours on the website, I am still confused!</p>
<p>Here are the Canadian citizenship rules. If I read it correctly, you - the mother can get Canadian citizenship but it appears to be limited to the first generation born outside of the country. So perhaps your kids are not eligible. Read the section: “Is it possible I am not A Canadian citizen?” and “First generation limit to citizenship”
[How</a> to obtain proof of Canadian citizenship](<a href=“http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/proof.asp#gen]How”>http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/proof.asp#gen)</p>
<p>For us it was more straightforward: DH is a Canadian citizen, born in Canada, and a Green Card holder. Kids were all born in US. At some point DH filed the paperwork to obtain Certificates of Canadian Citizenship for the kids (not a passport…a wallet card). I think we had to furnish copies of DH’s Canadian passport and US Green Card, DH’s birth certificate, kids’ birth certificates, passport-type photos of the kids, completed app for each kid. So if any of the kids attend a Canadian U, we will need to furnish the certificate to get the domestic rate.</p>
<p>The numbers above are full-freight; some people at U Chicago, Stanford or GWU don’t pay anywhere near $40k yearly.</p>
<p>As far as McGill is concerned I know that they have to admit a minimum percentage of in-province students (I don’t know whether it is 50%+1 or 60% but both seem to be in the ballpark) but the professors feel that the in-province students are no different (or perhaps better) academically from the out-of-province ones.</p>
<p>But many people who want to attend Canadian schools just lack the ECs to get into American colleges.</p>
<p>The UK can often be an option too - tuition for international students doing essay based subjects is usually around the $20k per year mark, but crucially bachelors degrees in England and Wales are 3 years long (4 years in Scotland)</p>
<p>IME, a lot of the students seeking a quality education at a great price are looking at Canadian Universities, and several I know got into just as many prestigious US programs. Yes, EC’s aren’t particularly important in non-portfolio applications in Canada. But grades are – with many of the top schools having a minimum 3.5 GPA cutoff for even applying ;)</p>
<p>The article is outdated or maybe misleading. The girl in the USNews report who is doing physiology major would have paid international Faculty of Science tuition rate. Someone who would do that next year would cost $33k for tuition and fee at McGill, plus the room and board can be a bit more than other state schools in the US due to Montreal cost of living. Another 12k for room and board, the COA at McGill in physiology would be at least $45k with no possibility for financial aid.</p>
<p>There really only are a handful of Canadian colleges that take ECs into account: UBC, Queen’s and, to a lesser extent, Waterloo. There are those people who still want a quality education but whose ECs are just too weak to make it to a top-50 school, even if their academic record is just fine for those.</p>
<p>Come to think of it, after looking at U Toronto and U Waterloo tuition cost, they are all in the low to mid $30k in tuition. It makes some sense if you are an upper middle class family with not much hope for any financial aid, these can be a little better deal. You can save maybe 10-20% off US privates. </p>
<p>Moreover, also if you are not top students who also have a good chance to get good merit money at some lower ranked privates, that coupled with being wealthy enough to not able to get financial aid, then financially, this makes sense. But generally, you need to have decent enough grades (> 3.5 GPA) to get in which basically means merit scholarship is in play at a lot of US schools if you look hard enough. To me, the whole thing is not as good as it sounds as portrayed in the article</p>
<p>I’m not sure where USNews got their numbers, but they must not be current. Add in exchange rate flucuations and the numbers could be much worse, even compared to expensive privates.</p>
<p>The $14.5k number for McGill is probably a year or two ago and only for non STEM like Bachelor of Arts. This year Bachelor of Arts is $17k and probably more like $20k next year. The one interesting option is you can also do Arts and Science program and still get the same low tuition but anything that is pure STEM and business school, the price is over $30k. I was told that the government regulates the price of many majors like Bachelor of Arts but recently in the last 2-3 years deregulated the ability for the University to set the cost for other majors for international students.</p>
<p>Basically, anything that is in high demand with good prospect for jobs after school, it is at deregulated price.</p>
<p>@rmldad…It appears USNews just looked at the tuition cost for Faculty of Arts for McGill and McMaster, to name two of their examples. </p>
<p>Agree about the exchange rate. Back when the looney hovered around 70 US cents (late 90s/early 00s as I recall from numerous visits to Montreal, DH’s hometown), and prior to recent tuition and fee hikes, Canadian U’s really were a steal for US students. I think the top-tier ones are still attractively priced for non-STEM, non-business majors.</p>
<p>My firstborn (HS junior) is STEM all the way, so were it not for the fact that he and his sibs are dual citizens and therefore eligible for the domestic rate, I don’t think we’d be looking at Canadian U’s at all. As it is, they are close to being financial safeties for us. Others’ MMV.</p>
<p>Also agree that maybe we can merge this thread with the one in the Parents Forum on the same topic…</p>
<p>Edit: The 14.5K for McGill is tuition only (no fees), for 2012-13. So, yes, misleading…</p>
<p>If it’s the University site (e.g., McGill.ca), it’ll be CAD. Exchange rate right now is roughly CAD 1 = USD .98. So a <em>very</em> slight discount (CAD 33,265 = USD 32,599). As I said upthread, a far cry from when the CAD = +/- 70 cents US.</p>
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