Students pan tuition hike

By Janet French of The StarPhoenix, November 23, 2004 The University of Saskatchewan is predicting a four per cent increase in tuition next year despite student groups’ calls for a tuition freeze last week. "A four per cent tuition fee increase doesn’t sound like a lot but depending on which program you’re in, it could be a couple hundred dollars," said Nicole Berard, chair of the Saskatchewan branch of the Canadian Federation of Students and a PhD student in English. Empty-pocketed students could be flocking to an on-campus food bank and fishing more clothes out of a free clothing bin, she said. In its annual operations forecast, the university predicts provincial funding will increase by 2.5 per cent next year. The institution is asking for an additional 2.5 per cent funding increase to cover the cost of new buildings and maintenance. The growing financial burden on students continues the trend of what the university forecast calls "the continued apparent transfer of post-secondary education from a public service to a private good." Since 1995, government funding has decreased to 58 per cent from 67 per cent of the university’s budget while tuition has gone from covering 22 per cent to 30 per cent of the university’s costs. Tuition rising out of synch with government grants is a sign Canadians are moving to a United States-style postsecondary system, said John Conway, a researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Saskatchewan. Canadians need to have a debate about who should pay for university in a time where degrees are a prerequisite for a job, he said. Conway authored a report released last week saying students here pay the third-highest fees in the country and recommended tuition in Saskatchewan be frozen for two years. "I don’t think it’s fair to those students who can’t afford it," Conway said. "And those students who can’t afford it, there are large numbers of them in this province. We’ve turned into a ‘have’ province, but it turns out all the family and individual income numbers are way down. The people of this place are not rich." The forecast indicates the university has planned $6.2 million in cuts to the colleges of agriculture, commerce, nursing, pharmacy, nutrition, the division of extension and facilities management to avoid a deficit. "The financial measures we have taken this year will have a substantial impact on access by students to the broad array of programs offered by the university, increasing the likelihood that potential students will leave the province to study in selected disciplines," the forecast said. The budget committee also predicts fees for professional programs like law, medicine, pharmacy and commerce should brace for "single-digit" or "double-digit" increases in the future. Paying more tuition for less access to programs isn’t fair, Berard said. Tuition fees at the U of S are based on the average tuition charged at medical and doctoral universities across the country, Tony Whitworth, university vicepresident of finance and resources, said. The university has to hit students up for cash to attract the best and brightest professors to teach them, he said. "We want to balance out reasonable fees with the best quality of educational experience," Whitworth said. "What’s happened when other provinces have had a freeze or a cap on tuition is that the quality of programs suffer and that at the end of the freeze period, some very significant catch-up increases take place." Although student fees are increasing faster than government funding, the university is asking the provincial government for more, he said. Government coffers aren’t bottomless, Learning Minister Andrew Thomson said, and universities will have to look elsewhere for funds if they’re spending more than taxpayers are willing to contribute. It’s a misconception government funding to universities is decreasing, he said. In the last decade, Saskatchewan’s funding per university student increased more than any other province in Canada, he said. Last year, Saskatchewan Learning increased funding to universities by two per cent – the second-highest budget increase next to health care, he said. He also refuted the notion higher tuition is keeping lower- and middle-income students out of university. "There are more students in university today than at any point in our history and more students from different socio-economic classes than ever," he said. "It’s hard to argue that accessibility is restricted when more students are attending than ever before." Conway said the university needs to shift its focus from landing research dollars and new buildings back onto students. "That’s what it wants most. That’s what it has lobbied for hardest," he said. "It certainly hasn’t been as effective in lobbying for operating funds, which benefit students directly." The tuition hike isn’t yet set in stone. The university’s budget for the 2005-2006 school year will be amended once the provincial government releases their budget, and ultimately their decisions on post-secondary funding, next March.