Bermuda College Tuition Changes
Bermuda College officials have announced Government will now fund 50% of tuition of all qualifying Bermudians, instead of the 100% funding first introduced in the 2007 Throne Speech.
With the College having to trim nearly $2 million dollars from its operating budget, it required everyone making what Bermuda College President Dr. Duranda Greene coined, a “shared sacrifice”.
“The budget cuts have affected operations, employees and students,” she stated. “Employees have agreed to take six days of unpaid leave plus a wage freeze during this fiscal year. Several capital projects have been deferred and retirees are not being replaced for the immediate future.”
Dr. Greene said “We are still providing extremely good value for money. Students are paying less than $2,200 for an entire year at Bermuda College; and less than $5,000 for a two-year associate degree programme that can qualify them to enter into the junior year (3rd year) of an accredited university overseas.”
A full-time student taking 12 credit hours will pay $1,072.50 compared to $1,605 before the free tuition. Under the free tuition initiative, implemented in Fall 2008, a student would have paid only the incidental fees of $540.
President of the Student Government Council, Antonio Belvedere said there has been talk around campus about the approaching discounted fees, and “naturally, some are not happy,” he said. “But most understood and accepted the change as another casualty of the economic recession. I wasn’t too happy about it myself,” he admitted.
“But I can accept it. The good thing is there are a lot of in-house scholarships and awards available at the College, in addition to things like book awards and new initiatives like the work study programme. And Student Services still offers financial assistance and other financial options, so they really are trying to provide tangible means of support to us.”
This Is terrible! Everyone is always saying ‘go up the college its free’, now its defiently not free. Why should our education system have to take a pay cut! Where government should make budget cuts, they don’t. But our one and only college? People really rely on that funding for their education, and now its being decreased. Smh. If Politics took a PAY CUT like suggested, than maybe an important thing like education won’t have to suffer.
Signed,
21&Female and I can tell something is not right.
@ What a Shame
I don’t say this to offend, but when Bermuda College first announced free tuition I made it a point to tell all my friends and family to take advantage of this because it would not last. I called two years, but BC’s tuition remained free for three. Since you’re 21 years old, you’ve been out of high school at least two years. You could have taken full advantage of the free tuition (if you have been at the college, then I apologize for the presumptions).
Now the tuition discounted, and that will most likely not last forever either. Compare Bermuda College tuition (and costs) to traveling overseas for the same type of degree. The current economic environment all but assures there will be a real tuition hike soon. Still, it can’t be denied that the Bermuda Government and Bermuda College have made great strides in the last few years to make education accessible to Bermudians. But free tuition just can not be sustained in any economy.
I think I am one of the fortunate ones who received a degree under free tuition, but I am still attending BC to get another degree to continue my education. I am willing to pay discounted tuition because the rewards are worth it. Free or discounted tuition should not be the only incentive to go to Bermuda College. The idea that you can graduate from BC with a recognized Associate Degree that can get you into another overseas program or directly in the workforce should be more of an incentive.
How do I know this? I was making less than $35000 a year before going to BC. After two years my income has more than doubled in an occupation of my choice with room for growth and development. I have become part of a network of peers and professionals that want to see Bermudians succeed. I’m grateful for this.
Your story is the perfect example of how education does bring about successes in one’s career which ultimately leads to benefits throughout the social part of ones life…
I hope you tell your story to all these byes that believe education is useless and will not get them anywhere…
People, lets get real now. Nothing in life is for free. Do like everyone else does in the real world. Get a job, & pay your own way through college, university, etc. OK, so maybe you can apply fora student loan or something, but you can’t always expect everything to be handed down for free, here’s a quote from the late JFK: “ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your [island]”
I might as well just go overseas. SMH.
Let me know if you find a university for less than $2,200 / year overseas! Most people pay that in a year for their new shiny Blackberry and data plan!
But I agree, it doesn’t help that the public transport system has made it harder to get to classes and now more expensive to go.
Bermuda is another world!
Everywhere being hit by the “economic crisis”….everybody except the politicians/MP’s that is….I’m not surprised by this move…..not surprised at all!
Governing is dynamic. You make decisions based on the circumstances. Currently the Government and Bermuda College feel that they need to charge tuition. I guarantee that a Bermudian will not be able to go overseas and gain the first 2 years of college for the greatly reduced tuition cost that they will have at Bermuda College. It is still greatly subsidized by the government.
Many are of the opinion that people will value their college degree a bit more simply because they are paying for it.
At the end of the day this was an election promise to get your votes nothing more. I know no one thought it would last did they.
LOL
Problem: we’re in a recession and enduring a crime wave. Both partially caused or influenced by under-educated Bermudians.
Solution: Make education less accessible
Come on – by giving away “free” education it was inevitable that this house of cards would eventually fall. If you’re not collecting tuition, where else are you going to get money to pay for salaries, maintenance and development? Government certainly sold the farm in the 2007 election…
where they get money for everything else!!!! they print it … I hate bermudians that play dumb!!! but then again you prob had enough money to go over seas and get your education rite!
It not that easy for a country that has a dollar based on the value of another countries dollar unless you want to devalue our dollar making everything even more expensive. I agree I hate Bermudians that play dumb question for you are you playing?
LOL Bermudian should always be capitalized unless you’re trying to show disrespect.
The Govt doesn’t print its own money in BDA. They get their money from us (taxpayers) and fees from businesses and what not.
Maybe you should save your money and try out some education type stuff…migh thelp with that ignorance thing you got going on there…
But hey at least we know that you aren’t “playing” dumb…
U hit the nail on the head!
i agree!!!! Exactly my point but yet they will spend 8 plus million to send bermudians to ARMY which teaches them WAR!!!! GO FIGURE
Or spend $70+mn on debt servivicing/interest payments to a foreign bank (HSBC)…
Good job Plp……..you have done it again!
What does Ewart Brown have to say about this. I am sure they can hire him as a consultant or just ask a few questions about his thoughts. Ah hell, ask the Speaker of the House…he’s still there right?
Another hollow election promise … add it to the (ever growing, never shrinking) list of PLP failures.
What are people complaining about? Its still affordable, cheaper than a MONTHLY RENT. At the end of the day it is STILL LESS than overseas. Yeah, everyone jumped on the Brown, about free this, free that….fools. Vote smarter next time.
All dee way PLP!! More broken promises because the Cog has no control of the check book!!
What’s next? Reduced “free” busses? Reduced “free” ferries? More expensive healthcare? Ooops…
What’s next?
not a good idea!
Everything Ewart Brown try to do to help us is been overturned watch out.
Careful, he didn’t do anything to help YOU out. Everything he did was centered around his own self advancement, the protection of his influence and relative power. Do not kid yourself.
Where is the Delusional Damsel to defend this as another great PLP achievement?
She knows not to step into this one. If she did venture into this I’m sure the Global Recession is to blame. LOL
LOL
And these people want to run the healthcare system.
BDA College is not worth the new tuition fees. I can count the number of good teachers on both of my hands.
The PLP should have never made Bermuda College education free. I believe that you value something much more if you have to pay for it. You do not take it for granted. The fees are low, and the value is not too bad at all for a community college. I think we should start charging fees in the entire school system. Then parents will turn up for PTA meetings and will insist that homework is done. I listen to co-workers with kids in private school. There is a different dynamic. They take the investment quite seriously. They challenge their children and their teachers. In short, they are engaged in the process. This may sound overgeneralized, but I think it has some merit. Maybe some teachers can respond?
“They challenge their children and their teachers. In short, they are engaged in the process”
With all due respect this should be happening any way in any system it is the only way to go to make sure the country’s invest ment (the youth) get ahead. There are succes stories on the public side you know I think parents should ensure their kids are doing what needs to be done and then tackle the teachers side.
LOL
SMH – where did all you outraged people think Government was going to get the money from to continue to allow you to attend college for free? To send your children to nursery for free? To send your school aged children on the bus for free? On top of that, provide monthly allowances for rent, food, clothes and utilities to families? Come on, can you imagine what our tax deductions would have looked like had they not started to make cuts? How did you expect your government to provide all these free services? Where was the money suppose to come from? If anything, providing all these free services has made citizens on this island lazy, they have poor money management skills and are constantly looking for handouts because the PLP have gotten them used to it!!! It annoys me oh so much! Get of your a$$e$ and WORK for a living, WORK to put that roof over your head, WORK to put food in your mouth, WORK to support your children, and if your current salary doesn’t of wont support you having a child or more children, then guess what? DO NOT HAVE A CHILD OR ANY MORE CHILDREN UNTIL YOU, YOU, YOU AND YOU ALONE can provide for your family without needing the help of government. (Of course the other parent should be handling their responsibilities as well, but it’s always smart to hope for the best and prepare for the worst). You know what else, if you are working but still can’t afford your needs, than cut out your wants. Do you really NEED to buy a new outfit every month, do you really NEED to buy new shoes every month, do you NEED to go away every year, do you NEED to go to the movies all the time (hell I haven’t been movies in years!) do you NEED to buy that peice of jewlery, do you NEED that BB, iphone of whatever other expensive phone is out there? ARGH!!! Most Bermudians just get under my skin!!!
Amen…
But as Cordell Riley and CURB believes such expectations of personal responsibility/accountability are nothing but sexist and racist.
Because everyone knows that personal responsibility and common sense decisions are strictly white supremacist themes…
Come on folks, we are all in this together. We will sink or float together, now is not the time to be pointing fingers. Just give thanks the kids can still get some sort of education at the collage. It’s a good start, only if you make use of it. So what if now it is not free to the end user. It was never free to begin with, we all paid more when it was “Free” now we will pay less, now that it’s 1/2 price.
The tuition was free, but incidentals still had to be paid. Incidentals are not cheap (depending on how many credits you are taking). The college is an oppourtunity, and there are many ways to have your costs covered depending on your choice of degree, which can also lead to employment and/or possibly education overseas. The costs for tertiary education in Bermuda is cheaper than that overseas, and you can work while living at home, thus making the overall costs less.
If you look at the positives of this situation, you will see that they greatly outweigh the negatives whether you are paying just for the incidentals, or having to pay the full cost of the tuition.