The Ultimate Blend: The US and Canada and Higher Education (Starbucks wishes!)
March 26, 2010
ROSEANN O'REILLY RUNTE, President, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
What are the differences between Canada and the U.S.? This is one of the most frequently asked questions addressed to the cross-border educated. Yet the similarities are perhaps more important and more striking!
It is often said that when the U.S. sneezes, Canada catches cold and that when the arctic winds blow ice across the February skies, Canadian Snowbirds take on the responsibility for improving the economic climate in Florida!
Trends find their ways across the border notwithstanding regulations and other barriers. When various states began imposing out-of-state fees, Canada’s provinces quickly followed suit. Education is locally funded and belongs to the taxpayer. Yet, discouraging student travel and international exchanges certainly weakens the quality of educational experience we offer our students. If they then cannot travel or have the opportunity to learn by sharing classes with students from abroad, then they miss a vital part of their schooling.
If we wanted to promote stronger US/Can relations, could we not offer national scholarships which would pay the out-of-state/province tuition fees permitting our students to move freely back and forth across the border? Surely the numbers would not be enormous. The benefits to both nations would, however, be great. Students who study abroad not only acquire a better understanding of the world, but of themselves.
If both the U.S. and Canada entered into a reciprocal relationship, funding scholars, this investment would contribute positively to the future leadership of both nations. Universities might also seek endowments for such exchanges and corporations working on both sides of the border might be willing to support this initiative.
Isolationist policies are never appropriate and even less so in our globally-conscious world where everything from the economy to the environment is interdependent. It is definitely a pity that Canada and the U.S. are alike in creating barriers to intellectual, cultural and economic exchanges through foreign student fees. If we could promote the bilateral exchange of our best students, both nations could benefit from the cross-fertilization of ideas. Who knows, we might even find solutions to a few of the significant problems which beset the world!
Roseann O’Reilly Runte is the President of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She is the former President of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and is an internationally respected author and academic.
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