Financial Constraints in Education

When Paradox Educational Services was first being set up, I looked into what a classroom-based education would cost in one of the population centres that would allow students to live in the region of a university and attend courses there.

As I calculated the amount of support students in the Williams Lake area were likely to need against the cost of providing their educational support, I settled on a cost figure that was about half what it would cost students to move to population centres in BC.

Paradox offers its services to students at a cost of $400 (CAD) per course taken. Students taking a minimal full-time load (12 credits per semester) would spend $1600 for Paradox support.

Ideally, a group of 12 students would contact Paradox in hopes of taking identical courses for each semester they are enrolled. In this way, Paradox would be able to provide a flexible social environment in which a learning community could be formed that would secure each online student's success in pursuit of a university education.

The best estimates available comparing costs of living in Williams Lake with those in and around Vancouver indicate that students who move to Vancouver to attend SFU or UBC can expect their costs (living only, not including tuition and other educational costs) to be $6000-7000 per school year (figuring 2 semesters per year).

Paradox aims at providing abundant support for online learners at $3200 for two full-time semesters. This would seem to be a reasonable cost.

However, students have never been over-financed in their education typically, and this cost may not be within the reach of many. For this reason, Paradox is searching for other ways to fund its operations. We are looking for corporate support, community support, donations, and other ways to offer financial aid to students in the Williams Lake area.

Financial obstacles come in various shapes (and sizes!) for many students (income, debt, etc.). At Paradox, we are trying to provide needed support for students in Williams Lake who want to get an education without having to leave their home community to do it.