Classes at the University of Belize begin on august 14th and with the new school year there will be new fees. Registration is from August seventh to the eleventh and that's when close to 2,500 students will register. 1,150 of those will be new students, and the rest will be return1ing students. All of them will get the news of a hike in registration fees. Here's the story on why UB students will have to dig deeper in their pockets next month if they want to attend the University of Belize.
Moses Sulph, Student Activist
"The majority of students I've spoken to say they won't be able to come this semester or this will somehow hold them back from being able to continue their education.".
Moses Sulph says a lot of his fellow students won't be able to return to the University of Belize next month because they will be slapped with higher fees, more than double what they paid last year.
- For example - the fee for the computer lab has jumped from $75 to $165.
- There is a new library fee of $20
- Campus development fee of $100
- And a new wellness fee of $20 dollars.
- That adds up to 410 dollars - and that's just the basic fees.
Last year registration amounted to only $170. The difference is $240. It's $240 more that incoming Student Government President Rollin Powery says some students simply won't be able to afford.
Rollin Powery, Student Government President - UB
"It is something that just came sudden on. Apparently it had been in discussion a couple years back but as of now it has been implemented. Personally my new SG, what we are arguing, is that it is too sudden on us. A lot of them are talking that they cannot afford it. You have adults in there, part time students, that say they might not even come to school this semester. I guess majority of them are talking that they cannot afford it."
As student body president for the past two years, Moses Sulph actually sat in on Board of Trustees meetings where the college administrators discussed the hike in registration fees. The official position is that the money will go towards developing UB. But both Sulph and Powery say students are being forced to pay for an inadequately planned and under-financed national university.
Moses Sulph,
"We believe that we are being made to be pay in every instance for the mistakes of the powers that be and I can also say of this government. I believe that we are being made to pay for those mistakes. Its going to be a real strain for the students at the university and also for the parents of the students and also for the students who intend to apply at the university in the future."
Rollin Powery,
"I guess we are just taking our 'lick because of the incompetence of
how to finalize a university on a whole and up to now they are trying to standardize it, they are trying to make up for it and try to improve in various things. Everything they had to present to us was good. I liked everything but the fact that you have to raise school fees, that is the problem because many of us cannot afford it."
And that is what it will come down to -those who can afford it or who must find a way to...while those who can't, will have to abandon their pursuit of higher education.
We note that the tuition will remain the same. When you add in all the numbers, the registration fees for a student who is not a science major will now be $447. For a science major who is a full time student the cost will be $747. The graduation fee will increase from $80 to $125. Late registration makes a huge leap from only $10 to $200.
