Check out this article that appeared in the Calgary Herald today.
By Jason Fekete, With files from Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald
CALGARY – Three years after the province announced it was capping tuition rates at post-secondary institutions for up to a decade to ease the burden on students, the Stelmach government is allowing cash-strapped schools to apply for increases in their base tuition amounts for professional programs.
Advanced Education Minister Doug Horner said Monday the province will accept and review requests from post-secondary schools to increase their base tuition rates to address anticipated shortfalls for the 2010-11 academic year–something both the universities of Calgary and Alberta are considering.
With the provincial government forecasting deficits exceeding $10 billion over the next few years, universities and colleges in Alberta have been told to expect a zero per cent provincial funding increase for next year and 2011-12. The fallout has institutions considering a hike to their base tuition rates in several programs to help balance the books.
“Whatever proposal they bring forward to the (Advanced Education) department has to be fair, has to be equitable. It has to have a proper case behind it,” Horner said Monday.
“They have to show a very solid reason as to why we would look at adjusting the base of a particular program or particular tuition.”
Professional colleges and schools such as medicine, business, law, engineering, dentistry and pharmacy can now submit applications to hike their tuition rates beginning in September 2010, while most arts and science departments likely won’t be eligible, according to officials familiar with the initiative.
But critics charge the move breaks a three-year-old government promise to roll back tuition to 2004 levels and cap annual increases at the rate of inflation–about 1.5 per cent for the next academic year. The limit on year-over-year increases isn’t set to expire until 2016.
“Our concerns with adjusting the base (tuition) rate are very grave,” said Charlotte Kingston, president of the University of Calgary Students’ Union. “It’s very much a break in the promise they made about access and affordability.”
In November 2006, the Klein government championed its tuition policy as critical to ensuring affordable post-secondary education, committing $136 million over three years to schools to make up for lower tuition revenue. Capping increases at inflation was a centrepiece.
Horner said the government isn’t “right now” considering removing the inflationary tuition cap. However, the province must review the rates and funding models in other provinces to see how Alberta compares– something that wasn’t done three years ago, he said.
Nevertheless, students’ groups said allowing large tuition hikes will discourage youths from following their desired career path.
“It’s a short-sighted reaction,” Kingston said. “They can massively increase the debt load on students.”
However, Colleen Turner, the U of C’s vice-president of external relations, cautioned the school is still reviewing its options and must consult with students before making any decisions on tuition rates.
“It’s early days,” Turner said. “We haven’t made any specific recommendations.”
She acknowledged, though, the school is grappling with the provincial funding freeze and searching for cash, which could come through increasing tuition or the number of students accepted into programs.
Dru Marshall, deputy provost at the University of Alberta, said the school has been in contact with the U of C “fairly regularly” to see how tuitions at the two institutions compare against each other and across the country–and whether there’s a case for an increase.
The U of A isn’t prepared to release just yet the size of tuition increases being sought because the proposals are still in front of the students, she said, noting it could be a week or two before numbers are announced.
Carl Amrhein, vice-president academic at the U of A, said most of the university’s professional schools and colleges are deciding whether to apply for a rate increase. A final vote on whether to seek tuition hikes will come from the board of governors in March, he said.
The Tory government’s political opponents, meanwhile, argued Alberta’s long-term prosperity will suffer if the province increases rates.
“This government still doesn’t get that education is an investment,” said Liberal Leader David Swann. “If we saddle our young people with huge debts, we are going to pay much more severely in the future.”
NDP Leader Brian Mason said hiking post-secondary fees is “completely unnecessary.”
“They’re going to go after students for more money — that’s clear,” Mason said. “It makes a mockery of the cap on tuition and just places education out of the reach of many young people.”
Robert Jones, an executive with the Students’ Association at Mount Royal University, said their tuition consultation process with administration is complete and there are no plans on the table to apply for base rate increases to any programs.
Executives at SAIT Polytechnic said they have not had discussions with the government about the plan.
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