Every semester, students turn to scholarships, bursaries, RESPs, and empty their pockets for the sake of education in Canada. But who should pay for our education? Countries, such as Finland and Germany, support their undergrad students by using tax dollars, while many students in North America suffer in poverty, work full-time hours during school, are still living in their parents’ home, or all the above and more.

So, who should pay for higher education? Some argue that education is a personal privilege, financed by the individual who stands to benefit from the qualification. Others say that higher education is a public good and governments should take responsibility for paying for it.

The evidence is clear that when the state funds education, even at a bachelor’s or master’s level, the returns to the economy and society far outweigh the initial outlay.

When I lived in London, England, my first degree in Computer Science was fully funded by the UK government. This opportunity gave me the ability to start a career without the shadow of debt, and it enabled me to contribute immediately to the workforce. More importantly, it gave me the chance to grow into a role where I now pay more than $100k in taxes every year. Additionally, paying for my education was an enormous investment for the government. This cycle demonstrates a system of repayment that is at the core of a healthy economy.

This is not unique to me. Research shows that people with higher levels of education generally earn more over the course of their lives. That extra earning translates directly into higher tax receipts for the government.

Educated individuals also tend to start businesses, create employment, and drive innovation. Newly educated and unburdened minds bring fresh skills and energy into industries that would otherwise stagnate.

The benefits do not stop at the purely financial. Societies with high levels of education have better health outcomes, greater social stability, and stronger communities. Public funding of education creates long-term resilience and adaptability in a rapidly changing world.

However, some believe that the individual should bear the cost of their own education because they are the ones who benefit most.

On the surface, this may sound reasonable, but it ignores the collective benefit of a well-educated population. It also overlooks the fact that placing the financial burden entirely on the individual creates barriers to access. When students are required to take on enormous debts to pursue higher education, many simply decide not to.

The result is fewer graduates, reduced tax revenue, and weaker economic growth.

This is most clear in Canada. While Canada prides itself on being a fair and prosperous country, its education system is heavily reliant on individuals paying their own way.

University fees are high, student loans are enormous, and many graduates spend decades shackled to debt. The consequence is that many young people hesitate to attend university in the first place. Those who do graduate often find that their economic potential is drained by years of repayments.

This model does not create prosperity; it restricts it.

In Finland, tuition is completely free. The provision of accessible education has not bankrupted the nation, far from it. It has created a society that is highly skilled, innovative, deeply cohesive, and consistently rated as the happiest place on earth. Finland demonstrates that making education free is not an indulgence but a foundation for national well-being.

Germany offers a similar lesson. Public universities charge no tuition fees, even for international students in many cases, and the German economy remains one of the strongest in the world. Its industrial base is sustained by a highly educated workforce. Far from weakening the economy, free higher education has supported it.

Other European countries, such as Norway and Denmark, also fund higher education fully and enjoy high standards of living, competitive economies, and robust social stability.

The Canadian experience shows the danger of debt; Finland and Germany show the benefits of funding education as a public good. The contrast could not be sharper. Where education is commodified, inequality grows, and participation falls. Where education is funded, participation rises, skills multiply, and the economy strengthens. The choice is clear.

The costs of failing to invest in education are not simply financial. Societies where education is restricted become more unequal, more divided, and less stable. Those with fewer opportunities resent those with more. Communities become fractured, and social cohesion is undermined.

By contrast, when access to education is open and funded, citizens feel included, motivated, and able to contribute fully. The social dividend of public investment in education is as important as the economic one.

Finland’s position as the happiest country on earth is not unrelated to its decision to provide education as a right rather than a commodity.

Debates about education are too often reduced to figures about tuition fees and the burden of student loans. This is a short-sighted way of looking at the larger issue. The real question is whether a society wants to thrive or stagnate.

Do we want to nurture the talents of our young people or saddle them with debts that prevent them from ever reaching their full potential? The choice is not between saving money or spending money; it is between investing in the future or watching it slip away.

As someone whose own degree came at the state’s expense, I know my story is only one among many. Free higher education gave me the scope to repay far more than the public investment in my studies and fostered a deep sense of pride in my country, as a citizen able to contribute in return. When my experience sits alongside thousands of similar journeys, the case for publicly funded education becomes difficult to dismiss.

An educated population pays more in taxes, creates more opportunities, and strengthens the fabric of society. Canada shows us what happens when education is treated as an individual burden. Finland, Germany, and others show us what happens when education is embraced as a public good.

Paying for education is not a handout. It is sound financial policy. It builds the workforce, expands the tax base, and secures the future. The more we invest in people, the more people invest in the country. When the government pays for education, everyone wins.