Transitioning to remote delivery does not change the amount we will invest in order to ensure academic integrity and quality for our students. We remain committed to bringing students the quality learning experience you expect from Waterloo by the faculty members you know. Tuition supports this commitment.
We have offered online courses for many years at the same tuition fees as in-person courses corresponding to the student’s program. The high-quality online courses our instructors develop have always been recognized as equivalent to our on-campus offerings.
Nearly 25 per cent of our students were already taking classes online prior to the pandemic, though this mass migration to online academics at this scale is unprecedented. As such, we’re investing considerable effort and resources to build further on our expertise in online learning and develop innovative and effective alternatives to the hands-on experience you get from labs, specialized equipment and placements. This has been in the form of investments in technology, as well as the substantial amount of time and effort from our instructors and support staff to adapt to this online environment.
We are also committed to continuing to support our core services to students that are funded through tuition and other revenue sources. We will continue to provide financial aid advice, support services and academic guidance, as well as continue ongoing efforts to upkeep physical infrastructure, such as labs, to ensure you can seamlessly return to campus as soon as it is safe to do so.