Ehtler Moo tackles an upcoming project in Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Buchanan library on Feb. 26.

The cost of post-secondary education in Canada continues to climb, leaving many students wondering if it’s truly worth it to take on immense debt to take the step forward in their education.

According to data from Statistics Canada, in Alberta average undergraduate tuition for students has increased significantly in just the past four years. In the 2021 to 2022 semester, the average was $6,500 while this school year the average has increased to $8,000 in just four years.

Jess Zivanovic, A future university student, applied to attend MacEwan University in Edmonton for the next fall semester and was surprised by how much effort and money it took to just apply to the school.

“Honestly, it was kind of stressful. It was $110 to apply, and it was one of the cheapest ones for the universities that I was interested in applying to.” States Zivanovic, “I was originally going to apply for University of Alberta, but that was $150 and then Calgary was $120, so McEwan was actually the cheapest.”

Even after paying for the applications fee, Zivanovic had to pay a $400 admissions deposit which you have to pay if she wanted a spot in the program, which would go towards her tuition.

“I think I understand why you have to pay to apply because there’s real people that are checking the applications, but I think over $100 is a little bit steep,” Zivanovic says.

Although post-secondary is something that takes a chunk out of every student’s wallet, it doesn’t mean necessarily that what they are learning isn’t valuable.

Ehtler Moo, a second-year criminal justice policing student at Lethbridge Polytechnic said that he had initially expected tuition to be higher than what he had to pay.

“When I first started scouting out just courses to take, I wanted to do firefighting or EMS,” stated Moo, “When I looked here, I was expecting it to be close to five figures, so finding out that it was like only $6,000 a year, it was well worth the price.”

Moo has thoroughly enjoyed his schooling through the polytechnic, feeling he has received his hard-earned money’s worth when it comes to his classes and teaching.

“It’s fun, the teachers have a lot of experience. So, it’s nice talking to them about how they got into policing so that I can sort of go the same route,” says Moo.

Still as tuition continues to rise and upfront costs are adding new layers of pressure to students across Alberta, they are weighing the benefits of post-secondary education to long-term financial consequences.

Yet for many, the value of post-secondary education remains tied to opportunity, career prospects and the value of the education you receive. And as institutions and students grapple with affordability, the debate of whether or not the cost of post-secondary is worth it will continue.