Report warm on thawing MUN tuition freeze
Minister says review of post-secondary education falls short on strategic plan, finding savings
A much-anticipated report on post-secondary education in the province contained a lot of good information for the provincial government to consider, but lacked a solid look at a strategic direction for the future, and failed to find financial savings, Education Minister Tom Osborne said Thursday.
The public post-secondary education review report, “All Hands on Deck: Responding to the Challenges of the 21st Century by Leveraging Public Post-secondary Education,” makes 83 recommendations to the government, Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic.
“I’ve been struggling with the report, to be completely honest,” Osborne said. “Within the terms of reference we asked that (it) be looked at that we become creative in how we can better deliver programs, deliver them more efficiently.
“The operating grant at the university has grown over the last number of years. The Canadian trend is that operating grants have been reducing over that corresponding period of time. We need to find a sustainable way and the report, I think, fell short on sustainability for our post-secondary institutions and it fell short in terms of finding the efficiencies, and in finding a solid and creative strategic direction forward.
“It did a good job in a number of other different areas. It did a good job in pointing out where the gaps were.”
The report contains about 350 pages. The independent review was completed by a committee appointed through the Independent Appointments Commission process. The committee began its work in 2019.
Key areas were broken down into ways to improve the current approach to governance and financial accountability; exploring a new funding and tuition model; improving accessibility and collaboration; maximizing research and development successes; creating a supportive and inclusive environment; providing supports for underrepresented groups; and identifying opportunities for the 21st century.
One of the recommendations suggests replacing the tuition freeze with a tuition model that reflects the priorities of the university and the province, and takes into consideration the effects on student access to university education, and align student financial aid policy with tuition changes to ensure equitable access to post-secondary education.
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) said if those recommendations are accepted, it will see the provincial government step further away from its commitment to fund post-secondary education.
The federation says students were underrepresented in the document.
“The recommendations in this report pertaining to tuition fees come as no real surprise as successive provincial governments in Newfoundland and Labrador have been reducing funding to MUN and CNA for over five years,” said Katherine Mclaughlin, Newfoundland and Labrador chairperson of the CFS. “However, this confirms what students have feared since this report was announced in 2019, that the doors are open for untold tuition fee increases, something MUN has been eager to do for years.”
The federation says the average student debt in Newfoundland and Labrador is about $20,000 for a four-year program at MUN. If the tuition freeze is not maintained, student debt will soar, becoming a barrier for young people looking to start families, make major purchases such as homes and cars, and prevent many young people from realizing their dreams of starting their own business.
Osborne said it is not as simple as just cutting out the tuition freeze.
“If you are looking at tuition you really need a solid balance of student supports with any tuition changes,” he said. “So it is going to take some thought and foresight into what that may look like.
“The government is responsible for providing funding to the university to freeze tuition. It is the university’s job to determine what tuitions are. So, they’ve lived with the tuition freeze based on the fact that we’ve been funding it.”
Osborne said that since 2005 the provincial government has put almost $600 million of taxpayers’ money into freezing tuition fees. He said that is something taxpayers have expressed concern about given the province’s current fiscal situation, compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If we continue with the tuition freeze into next year, it’s over $70 million to freeze the tuitions next year,” he said.
“The amount to freeze tuitions keeps growing, so does it need to be looked at? I think it absolutely does. But we need the proper balance of student supports and student aid to go along with any changes.”
Vianne Timmons, president and vice-chancellor of Memorial University, said the review was grounded in a consultative process that gave students, parents, faculty, alumni and interested Newfoundlanders and Labradorians the chance to share their opinions on the future of post-secondary education in the province.
Timmons said the university will review the recommendations in detail.
“My priority is ensuring that Memorial is able to meet the needs of students, now and in the future,” she said. “The PSE review report covers a wide range of areas and provides insight into the perceptions of the post-secondary system in Newfoundland and Labrador, and we will take the time necessary to study it.”