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C.A.'s comments on student exemplars University project This project is very well set up and clear off the top. I was particularly impressed about this project; it is very well set up; it is very clear off the top. The quantitative variables for the three universities that we were looking at were set up right away: what is tuiton? what is transportation? etc. Also, the student's profile was standardized right off the top, which is excellent. The overall layout in presentation of this project was well done, well planned out. Imputed costs- a term used for costs lumped into what you are already paying for like the cost of in-city transport in this case. Students remarked confidently that, "cost of in-city transportation in London Ontario is nothing, as this cost is included in the tuition fees". There's a cliche that says there's no free lunch. Similarly, there's no such thing as free transportation. In cases like this, there's a term that you can use called imputed costs, meaning costs lumped into what you're already paying. What is the relevance of considering the percentage of the total cost carried by each of the above components? On the question of, "What percentage of the total cost is each of the above components?" I am not sure how important or relevant that was to consider, the reason being it's going to cost you a sum of money to go to university no matter what. I am not sure if it's as relevant for the basic analysis set up here. For what matters at the end of the day is how much the grand total bill is, but, certainly, it's useful for going forward. Presenting information in a dialogue form In terms of presenting the total costs, they present the total costs in a tabular format; it might have been even easier to just build it in dialogue form, saying, "My tuition is this, my books are that, my residence is that" The dialogue form would not only have made this part of the table more understandable, but it also would have presented the numbers together with their explanationa all right there. Dialogue is great, although it doesn't always convey everything in the most useful or possible, most quick and ready way to review the information. Use of a spread sheet for comparisons. Rather than these individual little bar graphs, a spread sheet with costs done side-by-side for each university would have been more helpful for comparisons. The qualitative side of this analysis is crucial While it's very valuable to see that ranking in terms of overall picture of the university, it is still very important, we consider, "What is that university going to offer me?" "What experience am I going to get out of it? Where can I go from there?" You are not necessarily going to get that right off the top of any published survey of the universities.There was some token service given to the qualitative side of the location, where the student wants to stay, and the quality of education that you get out of it. I might even be tempted to put more weight on that. In terms of the problems that were explored, the cost of tuition, cost of living in residence, and the food, I wasn't sure if this was standardized together with everything else up front. You run the risk when you standardize, as in the side, of missing out on certain things that are particular to a university. For example, a single bed room residence might cost more at a University where it was constructed in the last 5 years than at a university where it was constructed 25 years ago. Although, standardizing is still important for basic analysis, such qualitative consideration need be to done. The conclusion that they made in this project was very good. I think it had a very good blend of qualitative and quantitative sides. However, in the end, I think the numbers were used to justify the qualitative decisions that were made. It's important to balance between the two, but one doesn't necessarily justify the other all the time. How I am going to fund my post secondary education? All the points that are raised are very valid. The important things is, "how am I going to fund this?", and this is an expensive preposition, and it's not going to get any cheaper . Often finances will become a constraint on the decisions that are being made, but it's not necessarily something that has to come up right at the top, especially if you want opinions and views about university education. The teacher raised the question, "whether other factors should be considered in the paying tuition other than what was raised there; let's say, deferral costs, paying in installments are a good alternative of funding to consider. Also, one thing that wasn't considered was how these costs are going to change over time. Looking at the four years, realizing that, by-and-large, tuition rises ten to twenty-five percent a year. How is that going to affect my decision-making? Balancing the qualitative and quantitative side in a conclusion The conclusion that they made in this project was very good. I think it had a very good blend of qualitative and quantitative sides. However, in the end, I think the numbers were used to justify the qualitative decisions that were made. It's important to balance between the two, but one doesn't necessarily justify the other all the time. Other costs factors to be considered The student was from Regina, I didn't see any consideration of traveling to and from university each semester. Going on the assumptions that, perhaps, this person's parents might want to see them at Christmas time. Other cost factors that weren't considered were costs like supplemental insurance (such as drug plans, dental care) that you may or may not opt into depending on which university you go. Looking at cases like this, you can consider, "how am I going to spend the whole year?" You have to factor in all costs and how the costs are likely to change over time. I wasn't sure how these estimates as well came about; for personal items - clothing and entertainment. They talk about it in generalities, citing references later on, which is good, but tying the references in more specifically, saying, "We obtained these estimates from here", would've been beneficial. Accuracy in presenting information On the note on the tuition at UBC not being graphed correctly; the wrong number is graphed, in the project they said that the cost of residency was $6 400, but they actually graphed $ 2 295 which was the cost of tuition. We in the C.A. profession run into big problems, probably an understatement, if information goes out that we have provided assurance of, an audit, a review, that is proven to be incorrect. If the numbers don't add up then we're in trouble. There's a certain amount of culpability that we have in public practice and many procedures that we follow accordingly. When it comes down to a final presentation, make sure your numbers are presented correctly. When you're doing this not as an academic exercise, but it makes a difference to somebody's life, there's consequences. Teacher Comnments | Student Projects Home Page | C.A's comments
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