Lukaszuk pledges to address fee issues
EDMONTON — Post-secondary students fearful of potential fee increases in the wake of provincial cuts to colleges and universities will hear more on the issue soon, Alberta Advanced Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk promised Wednesday night.
Lukaszuk signalled upcoming announcements related to the issue of non-instructional fees and “market modifiers” as he answered questions from an MLA committee about his department’s budget.
The Redford government’s plan to cut spending in the advanced education portfolio has been one of the most contentious pieces of the 2013-14 budget since it was introduced on March 7. The biggest shock came in a seven per cent cut to operating support earmarked directly for Alberta’s 26 universities, colleges and technical institutes.
For the University of Alberta alone, that means finding $42 million in savings.
Lukaszuk has pledged that the province will maintain the tuition cap already in place. But students across the province have worried institutions desperate to fund programs will find ways to tack on other fees. “A lot of students are fearful noninstructional fees are going to go up,” Wildrose Advanced Education critic Bruce McAllister said to Lukaszuk Wednesday. “Almost every organization I’ve met with from a student perspective is concerned about it and frankly minister, you know yourself when the money runs out somewhere, people need to try to find it somewhere else so we very likely could see that.”
Lukaszuk, who is scheduled to meet with the presidents of all 26 institutions Thursday said he is delivering a message to administrators that costs to students should not increase until the province and its schools can say: “We are delivering this world-class education as efficiently as we possibly can.”
NDP advanced education critic Rachel Notley asked whether Lukaszuk will craft new legislation or regulations to limit non-instructional fees or market modifiers, where the university makes a request to bypass the tuition cap that holds increases to the cost-of-living.
“I said I will be making comments and announcements relevant to market modifiers promptly,” Lukaszuk said. “At this point in time, I can’t. I will be meeting with all presidents of all schools tomorrow and I will be making that decision then.”
On the subject of non-instructional fees, Lukaszuk said he has told university officials that he expects students to be better represented in the decision-making process. “They pay for 25 per cent of the cost,” he said. “They are not only the beneficiaries of the education. They are also cofunders of the system. I think there is a voting role to be played.”
Amanda Nielsen, representing the Alberta Graduate Council, said it’s important the government make it clear that post-secondary institutions cannot unilaterally hike student fees to make up for budget cuts.
“The premier said clearly we are not going to raise tuition, market modifiers are essentially raising tuition,” Nielsen said. “If market modifiers were to come back, that would be a promise broken to students.”
She also urged Lukaszuk to impose more regulations on how noninstructional fees can be added to a student’s bill. “We think the only way to really protect students is to regulate them and make it so students actually vote on and approve any non-instructional fees rather than just have the university board do it,” she said.