From next year, new and returning students at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, will have to dig deep into their pockets to cover tuition fees for their programmes. Some students may have to pay as much as $190,000 for a programme in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Education Minister Anthony Garcia announced a series of measures to be introduced from the 2017/2018 academic year which would result in dramatic changes to students who want to access higher education.
Whereas students were receiving 100 per cent funding from the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses Programme (Gate) for a range of disciplines in seven faculties at UWI, the new changes would see students who are pursuing dentistry or veterinary science — the two most expensive programmes in medical sciences — having to pay $187,500 for five years.
This $187,500 would apply for students whose household income range $30,000 and more and who would benefit 50 per cent of funding. The total cost to study each of those programmes at UWI is $375,000 for five years. However, students whose household income is over $10,000 monthly would receive 75 per cent funding.
A student pursuing medicine, which costs $71,100 a year, would have to pay roughly $35,550 a year for five years if accessing the 50 per cent, while those accessing 75 per cent would pay $17,775 a year, representing 25 per cent of their tuition fees. A student pursuing a degree in history or literature would have to pay as much as $18,000 for a three-year programme if accessing the 50 per cent route.
Those in the $10,000 and lower category would receive 100 per cent funding but subject to a means test.
Government pays close to $1 million for a local student to study medicine at the St George’s University in Grenada. It costs US$28,056 for tuition fees which amounts to US$140,280 for five years which is equivalent to over TT$930,000. (RKR)
Annual tuition fees at the UWI
• Food and Agriculture: $12,600.
• Science and Technology: $12,600.
• Humanities and Education: $12,000.
• Social Sciences: $12,000.
• Engineering: $18,000.
• Law: $13,500.
• Medical Sciences: (The Government provides a subsidy of 50 per cent of tuition fees to persons who have been admitted as nationals of Trinidad and Tobago. Annual fees quoted below are the subsidised fees):
• MBBS: $71,100.
• Dentistry: $75,000.
• Veterinary: $75,000.
• Pharmacy: $20,90.
• Optometry: $90,000 (full programme).