Talk:McGill University

I say,

any facts to substantiate that an Ontario student had actually to pay more tuition than an American student at any time in history?

In 1997 there was a lawsuit on this very issue where Ontario McGill studetns sued the government and lost. International studetns from ~50 countries can pay Quebec fees at McGill, which are much lower than the fees paid by other Canadians. See an article on the subject at http://www.unb.ca/bruns/9899/Issue6/News/differentials.html

SimonP 12:11 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

But does this apply to American students? The article does not mention that. I attended McGill and I know for a fact that Americans pay international student fees. As for the students who get to pay Quebec tuition (not mention get Quebec medicare), yes, it's true... they exist. They're from countries like France, Norway etc. who have special reciprocal agreements with Quebec. I understand the agreement was something about encouraging investment in Quebec's hydropower or some such.

- former McGill student.

My mistake... your submission does not mention American students specifically but international students. However, I don't think I can accept the statement that McGill encourages international students over students from other provinces. McGill tuition, even with the out of province differential, is still lower than the local tuition at Ontario universities! (e.g. 4k/yr at McGill for out of province compared to 5k/yr local tuition at Queen's. I'm guessing it's higher at the U of T) The students who get to pay Quebec fees are from a select list of countries under special agreements; the rest of the international students pay international fees.

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Actually, tuition at U of T/Queen's and McGill are comparable. McGill's tuition for non-Quebec Canadians is $4,012.50, while U of T's tuition for Canadians (including Ontarians) is $4,185.00 and Queen's tuition is $4,193.00. (Of course, tuition for specialized programs--e.g., commerce/management, engineering--is higher.)

• U of T link: http://www.fees.utoronto.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_2_434_1.html
• McGill link: http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/fees/
• Queen's link: http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/fees/ug-dom.html

Also, international students who pay Quebec rates at McGill are generally from countries that were former French colonies (i.e., Ivory Coast, Vietnam), as the Quebec government has a reciprocal agreement with these countries. Though, a friend of mine was American but had a French passport (and thus, paid Quebec rates), and another friend of mine was also American, but was born in Quebec, and was also able to pay Quebec rates despite his citizenship.

Most of the time, tuition is based on how long you have lived somewhere, because of the taxes. Tuition in Canada is subsidized by taxes, so although you're a Canadian citizen, if you've lived in say the USA, you pay international rates. You have to live somewhere in Canada generally 3 years or more to get the "home rate". Spinboy 05:37, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

This is patently false, at least with respect to McGill, and probably other Quebec universities. When I was there, I had at least two friends who were Canadian citizens but spent most of their lives in the States, and paid Canadian tuition rates to attend. Not to mention, Quebec universities do have bilateral agreements with many countries, including France and Vietnam, to allow citizens of those countries to pay Quebec tuition rates (which are half of what "Canadians" pay and less than a quarter of what international students typically pay). Darkcore 06:10, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I was more refering to Universities outside Quebec, from what I have seen. I do remember a big case in Quebec where students sued the government claiming that their paying more was unconstitutional. I believe they lost. Spinboy 06:14, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

The rules on Quebec tuition include some exceptions. Even if you hold the passport of a country with a reciprocal agreement, you are not eligible to pay Quebec tuition if, for example, you have done high school in a Canadian province other than Quebec. Kalanga 20:38, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

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Someone says on the Page that McGill is the 3rd oldest university in Canada after Dalhousie and Laval. Dalhousie is certainly older (1818 compared to 1821) but Laval was founded in 1852 (when the Seminaire du Quebec was granted a University Charter by Queen Victoria). I am not absolutely sure how McGill's age stacks up in Canada (and doubt it really matters!) but it is certainly older than Laval. However, the University of Kings College is older than both (founded in Windsor Nova Scotia in 1789 as the first university in Canada.) so McGill may actually be the third oldest! Someone who knows more than I do needs to fix this page!

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The article currently states that McGill is a public institution, but Private school says: "Private schools, in the United States, Australia, Scotland, and other English-speaking countries, are schools not administered by local or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition rather than with public funds." According to this definition, McGill is a private school. It is: 1) In an English Speaking Country. 2) Not administered by local or National Government. 3) Funded in part by charging its students tuition. Adjusting 01:48, 2005 Mar 16 (UTC)

It's a public institution/school. --Spinboy 01:52, 16 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"Public school" is probably not the best description; it is a "public university," which means that it can either be a state-run system (like the Universite du Quebec) or a privately-managed school that is maintained by public funds (like McGill). When a school is publicly-funded (i.e., paid for largely through tax dollars), it is considered to be "public." Indeed, McGill charges lower tuition rates for Quebec residents than Canadians at large (another sign that it is a public university) whereas a private school would not make such a distinction. Darkcore 03:22, 16 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Fraternity info

Factoid deleted from article with comment Wikipedia isn't a directory that might conceivably be useful:

McGill is also home to Canada's largest and oldest Fraternity. As soon as Zeta Psi came to Toronto, as the pioneer of Greek letter fraternities in Canada, her zealous brothers immediately conceived the idea of starting a sister chapter at their rival university. In those days, there was but a slender thread of communication between the two institutions, and the hopes of the Theta Xi might have thus been thwarted for many years had it not been for Robert Fulford Ruttan from Toronto, who decided in 1881 to pursue his medical studies at McGill. Ruttan, though not a Zete, numbered many of the active chapter at Varsity among his intimate friends, and they commissioned him to lay the groundwork for the foundation of a chapter in Montreal. He painstakingly collected a small group of enthusiastic fellow medical students and petitioned Grand Chapter to grant a charter to the fledgling group. The petition was successful, and on the morning of January 3, 1883, Bros. A.L. Cameron (then Phi of Theta Xi) and Henry Brook (Theta Xi, '81) arrived in Montreal to install the new chapter. It was to be called Alpha Psi. [1] (http://www.zetapsimcgill.com/) This chapter has produced Conrad Harrington, Former Chancellor of McGill University, Eric Molson Chairman, Molson Beer Companies and in 1915, more than half the workers at the McGill Base Hospital were Zetes from Alpha Psi.

Please sign your posts with four tides (~~~~). Now, that being said, this isn't the place for that. Put it in the article about Zeta Psi. --Spinboy 03:54, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Sorry I forgot to sign. I have no idea what Zeta Psi is, but that does seem like encyclopedic information, so I thought it shouldn't just disappear. If you've moved it there we can just delete it here. --Andrew 04:01, Apr 29, 2005 (UTC)

Neutrality

Is this article neutral? I found that some passages are more advertissement for the University than information. Try to not make to many enumerations.