Andrew Doyle; DYLAND002Tutorial Group: M2; Ashley StanlyBUS1036S Word Count: 1074Course Essay30 Aug 2012

The following essay will examine whether a student is being unfairly treated by having

to provide financial backing for sporting and cultural events and facilities provided by

the University of Cape Town, although the student does not make use of or take part in

such activities held at the facilities. The essay will also look at the fee structure of the

University of Cape Town and what cross-subsidization entails.

Attending a tertiary education facility such as the University of Cape Town is done at

student s discretion. There is no law that forces a student to attend university, let alone

a specific university. When one attends a university one agrees to the policies that

university enforces including but not limited to fee structure. I believe if a student

makes an informed choice to attend an academic institution, they know that their fees

will be partially contributing to facilities and events that they may never make use of or

take part in. This information is public knowledge and is available on the UCT website

for all to see.

If a student is not happy with this contribution to cross-subsidization they can look for

other options where their needs are met and they only contribute financially to the

facilities they use. There are many university options around the world and in South

Africa that provide academic only schooling with out extra facilities and with out ‘tax’.

One such example is UNISA where one pays for only the course one takes and the

facilities one needs to complete said courses and nothing more.

Any student who wishes to see what their money goes towards can view the fee

structure at UCT on the UCT website with ease. At UCT the fee break down is as follows:

“Students at UCT pay tuition fees for every course taken. These tuition fees vary from

course to course and cover: registration, all charges for classes, tutorials and

laboratories, ordinary university examinations, library access & the use of general

sporting facilities” (UCT, 2012) In the above we see where the issue lies, students pay

for things that apply only to them but also have to financially support sporting facilities

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Andrew Doyle; DYLAND002Tutorial Group: M2; Ashley StanlyBUS1036S Word Count: 1074Course Essay30 Aug 2012and the library. There is no choice in this for a student and they accept this when they

apply to and subsequently attend the university.

Cross-subsidization is the practice of charging higher prices to one group of consumers

in order to subsidize lower prices for another group. (WordReference, 2012)At UCT

every student is being charged the same levy for use of the library and general use of

the sporting facilities. Thus the ‘higher price’ student’s pay is noticeable in the value for

money each student receives from a cross-subsidized event or facility. A student who

plays rugby on the UCT fields 3 times a week will be receiving much higher value from

the money they contributed towards that facility than a student who has only ever

walked across the field to get to their next lecture.

In the example provided in the question, the student already makes use of a cross-

subsidized venue - the library. Without the support from the students at the university

the library would not be the up to the standards that it presently is and the student may

not be able to reap the full academic gains from the university due to lack of academic

infrastructure.

UCT is an academic institution and it is compulsory to study a course to attend the

university and thus it can be argued that all students will all have to attend the library at

some point during their academic career, thus no one is paying an unfair tax with

regards to the library. However it is very possible that a student could graduate without

setting foot in the library. Considering this if one student uses the library everyday is it

unfair that they pay the same amount as a student who has visited once to print a

document? I think that as one has the opportunity to visit the library as often as one

needs but whether or not to take that opportunity is ones own choice, thus making the

system fair.

Hypothetically if UCT were to implement a system where a student pays per use of each

facility, be it the library or the rugby field. (thereby doing away with cross-subsidization

and the ‘tax’ imposed on students who only attend the bare minimum) The costs of each

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Andrew Doyle; DYLAND002Tutorial Group: M2; Ashley StanlyBUS1036S Word Count: 1074Course Essay30 Aug 2012visit to a facility would be relatively high, creating a deterrent for students to use the

facilities (especially for sporting facilities). This can be seen at the UCT gym where

membership is compulsory for entry, although there are many students with

membership. Most students consider the membership costly and it deters them from

using the facility. UCT would also not receive the funding it needs at the beginning of

each year to build and update existing sporting or general facilities that require large

amounts of capital and would have to build them at a sub par quality so that the system

would be financially viable for students.

In this example students would be receiving a lower quality facility for a higher price

per visit. Without cross subsidization and with this model in place it would most

probably not be financially viable to maintain the UCT library or sporting facilities.

This can be seen at a university such as UNISA which although extremely large because

students only pay for what they enroll in has no sporting facilities because it would no

be viable. (4ICU, 2012)

At UCT some of the sporting facilitates are multifunctional and support both sporting

and compulsory academic events. The Sports Centre is one example where the bi-

annual student exams are held and is often used for indoor hockey, basketball, soccer

and other sports. Without this facility being cross-subsidized UCT would have to build

another large hall for the specific purpose of academic testing, instead they have a found

a solution that benefits more people, more of the time.

In conclusion there is no unfair tax being paid by any students. It is the student’s choice

to attend the university and in doing so they must abide by the policies the university

sets out. The student can use the general sporting facilities and library at their own

discretion due to the cross subsidization and by not using a facility they are only doing

themselves an injustice by missing out on valuable opportunities.

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Andrew Doyle; DYLAND002Tutorial Group: M2; Ashley StanlyBUS1036S Word Count: 1074Course Essay30 Aug 2012

Reference List UCT. (2012, jan 01). Fee structure. Retrieved August 30, 2012, from University of

Cape Town: http://www.uct.ac.za/apply/fees/structure/#5

WordReference. (2012, 01 1). cross-subsidize. Retrieved 08 30, 2012, from Word Refernce: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/cross-subsidize

4ICU. (2012, 07 12). University of South Africa. Retrieved 08 30, 2012, from 4 International Colleges and Universities: http://www.4icu.org/reviews/4235.htm

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