Proposed Fee-Laddering for Graduate Certificates into Related Master’s Degrees in Education
The Faculty of Education has identified the graduate certificate (12 credits) as a valuable credential for professional educators, and is committed to the creation of several certificates. A key element for some graduate certificates is the ability to ladder not just the courses of the certificate into a related master’s degree but also the paid certificate tuition. Currently, laddering tuition is not possible for most master’s degrees in the Faculty of Education given the established full program fee-structure, which requires full payment regardless of courses transferred. The cost of living is high, tuition fees are high, salaries for professional educators tend to be modest. Thus, the prospect of paying certificate tuition and then paying a full program tuition fee for a master’s degree can create a significant barrier to participation. The following fee-laddering proposal seeks an efficient and cost-effective way to address this challenge.
Proposed Fee-Laddering Process
The proposed fee-laddering mechanism would work as follows: paid tuition fees for a completed 12 credit graduate certificate would be considered as equivalent to one third of the total master’s program fee.
Tuition for graduate degrees is charged as a program fee. The program fee is charged on a term basis and the number of terms varies depending upon whether a student attends full-time or part-time. The minimum number of terms for a full time student is three. The minimum number of terms for a part-time student is 9. Consequently, the proposed fee laddering mechanism would have students begin their master’s as if they had completed term 1 – for those attending full time, or their first 3 terms –for those attending part time.
This fee laddering process would save a student who takes a graduate certificate and then goes on to take a related master’s degree about 30% in tuition depending on the tuition of the certificate in question and whether the graduate degree is taken full-time or part-time, on-campus or off-campus.
The graduate certificate and graduate degree combination would cost more than if a student took the master’s degree alone. The exact amount will depend upon the tuition of the certificate in question and the tuition fee of the graduate degree. To provide a specific example, the proposed graduate certificate in Adult Learning and Education (GCALE) if laddered into a master’s degree taken part-time would cost approximately 13% more than if the degree was done by itself.
Proposed GCALE full tuition: $5302.68
Part-time on-campus M. Ed. full program tuition: $11437.74
Current Cost of combined certificate plus M.Ed. = $5302.68 + $11437.74 = $16740.42
Proposed Laddering cost of combined GCALE plus M.Ed.:
GCALE tuition + 2/3 M. Ed. program tuition = $5302.68 + $7625.16 = $12927.84
Rationale for the proposed fee-laddering process
This mechanism is simple to understand, fair, cost-effective and easy to administer. Graduate Certificates give professionals and others the opportunity to engage in graduate level education without initially committing to a graduate degree. The ability to ladder both the content of the certificate and the fees already paid into a related master’s program gives such students another way to take on graduate work according to their own timetable, interests, and financial resources, while at the same time removing a potentially significant financial barrier to further graduate work.
In the current situation, a student could take a four course certificate and could transfer the course credits into a related master’s program, but the student would still be required to pay the full program fee of the master’s program. This is particularly vexing for working professionals who generally take their master’s programs part time, and consequently, must pay all required installments. Thus, a part time student who took a graduate certificate and then wanted to carry on into a related Master’s degree would pay about 30% more for this combination, than she would if the fee-laddering proposal was applied.
As noted above the combination of graduate certificate and master’s degree will cost slightly more than the master’s degree alone. The rationale for this additional cost lies with each graduate certificate and its respective tuition. Each graduate certificate is a significant credential in its own right. Additional costs in offering each certificate include among other things specific advising support for students, certificate coordination, and creation of some revenue for student financial aid.
Fee laddering is vital for the recruitment of professional participants in education. Educators are modestly paid relative to the cost of living in British Columbia. A fee laddering process toward an M. Ed. has been well established at Simon Fraser University for a decade, and has proven to be a competitive advantage.
The fee laddering process is specifically targeted at those educators who are seeking the best available academic engagement but who may have some reason for being unable to undertake a full graduate program immediately. The possibility of laddering into a master’s degree in the future makes it that much easier to participate in a graduate certificate.
Laddering brings a significant degree of flexibility to the offering of graduate content to professionals. Professionals and their employers will appreciate that they can access graduate level knowledge in a way that meets their working schedules and needs. The Faculty of Education, and other Faculties in the university, will benefit from the addition of these professionals to their programs.
The mechanism proposed here addresses the challenge of how to bridge two different tuition structures—per course fees and program fees. It takes advantage of the flexibility afforded by the per course fee structure for the graduate certificate, and also maintains the strengths of the program fee for the remainder of the course work within the master’s degree. The mechanism does not require significant change to the policy fabric of graduate studies at UBC.