U of C hikes tuition for second straight year; most students to pay seven per cent more

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Most students at the University of Calgary will pay seven per cent more for their tuition starting in May 2021 after the school’s board of governors approved widespread fee hikes for the second year in a row.

The decision was met with disapproval from student representatives, who called it unfair to ask students to shoulder more of a financial burden in the current climate, with job opportunities limited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fee increases range from two per cent for some students to as much as 15 per cent for others. Most undergraduate programs will cost seven per cent more for domestic students enrolled as of May 2021, meaning students will pay more than $200 in new tuition fees.

Meanwhile, engineering and first-year medicine students will pay 10 per cent — or nearly $300 — more in tuition costs.

International students in their second year or above will also see a seven-per-cent increase for most undergraduate programs. First-year students will pay 10 per cent more in most arts, science or business programs, while law students face a two-per-cent hike.

A 15-per-cent increase awaits first-year international medicine students.

“This is very disappointing. It’s hard to overstate the unanimity of disapproval for this tuition increase,” said Mickail Hendi, one of two undergraduate students’ union representatives on the university’s board of governors.

“At the rate we’re going, education in Alberta is going to be very unaffordable. They’ll either choose not to get educated or leave Alberta to get educated.”

Hendi was one of six board representatives who voted against the sweeping fee changes.

“It’s very frustrating,” Hendi said.

“The overwhelming impression I’m getting from people is they’re being heard but not listened to.”

Last year, the U of C board hiked fees for most undergraduate and graduate students by five per cent, although some students faced as much as 15-per-cent increases to their tuition.

On Friday, it approved another seven-per-cent increase for Canadian graduate students in most programs. Some students, such as those in certain data science, information security and privacy, nursing, social work and engineering programs, will see their tuition rise by two per cent.

Domestic students in course-based Master of Engineering programs will pay 10 per cent more.

Some international graduate students escaped fee increases, while others will pay upwards of 15 per cent — or $9,500 — more per year.

U of C provost Dru Marshall said the board sought to ensure a “fair” decision was reached for students.

She said fee increases were necessary for the second year in a row due to funding cuts from the provincial government.

Alberta’s 2020 budget included a 6.3-per-cent cut to post-secondary schools, which translated to a $26.7-million reduction to the U of C’s Campus Alberta Grant.

Marshall said U of C’s budget has taken a $90-million hit over an 18-month period, while 600 jobs have been eliminated on campus.

“This is a balancing act,” she said.

“We have a philosophy under our budget of shared responsibility, so from a management and administration side, we’ve done restructuring, we’ve flatlined salaries, we’ve lost leaders out of the system. From a staffing side, we’ve controlled salaries.”

Data released Friday by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, obtained through freedom of information requests, showed that pay raises at U of C along with the University of Alberta have cost taxpayers and students $154 million since 2015.

The federation said thousands of employees continued to receive pay raises in 2020, despite the economic downturn.

Marley Gillies, vice-president (external) of the U of C Students’ Union, said students “already are paying our fair share.”

She said the increased cost of tuition would “put more stress on the backs of students, both financially and mentally.”

“COVID-19 has increased costs to individual students and to their families and of course, with poor job prospects, we know that students were looking for employment and didn’t get it,” said Gillies. “It’s definitely a tough time for students right now and, from our perspective, not the right time to be raising tuition this much.”

But when it comes to those claims, “nothing could be further from the truth,” according to Marshall, who said U of C is looking to increase revenue through “entrepreneurial initiatives,” in addition to cost-cutting measures.

She called it “an unfair characterization” to say students are shouldering most of the burden caused by provincial cuts.

“I’m sure a person who has lost their job wouldn’t say that the students are the only ones that are carrying the burden here,” Marshall said.

“People who have had salary cuts certainly wouldn’t say students are the only ones carrying the burden.”

The board of governors also approved seven-per-cent increases to student service, campus recreation and athletics fees on Friday, as well as two- to three-per-cent hikes for on-campus residence fees.

The board voted for a three-per-cent hike to meal plans and a $1 increase to daily outdoor surface parking lot costs.

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter: @SammyHudes