Mount Royal approves tuition hike

Student union blames the 7% increase on budget cuts, removal of tuition freeze

Mount Royal University students can expect to pay hundreds of dollars more for tuition in the coming academic year after the school’s board of governors approved a seven per cent increase for domestic students.

The fee hike, announced Monday, will cost the average full-time student about $400 more when they go to pay tuition in the fall. But while Students Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) president Shayla Breen points fingers at budget cuts and removal of the tuition freeze by the provincial government, MRU’S president Tim Rahilly said there was more behind the decision.

“In recognition of the fact that tuition has been held relatively stable over the last few years, we had the capacity to raise fees and we did so,” said Rahilly. “This seven per cent increase does not account for either the cuts to Campus Alberta Grant that we’re anticipating for the next budget year, nor does it make up for increases that might have happened in past years that were held frozen.”

It does, however, assist in balancing the school’s budget as MRU strives to be as efficient as possible while still providing quality undergraduate programs, according to Rahilly.

MRU’S student services and recreational athletic fees will also rise.

Of the tuition fee increase, 25 per cent — or approximately just under $1 million — will be reinvested into the university’s students by funding a bursary program for low-income students.

“We’re hoping we can continue to work with them to make sure that we can help the students continue,” said the school’s president.

Meanwhile, Breen placed blame for the “drastically rising” tuition on the Alberta government’s decision to allow tuition increases at the same time the school’s budget was cut.

A tuition freeze was first introduced in 2015 by the previous NDP government, so the 2020-21 hike will be the first of its kind in several years. Universities were given the go-ahead to up their tuition fees for domestic students, up to seven per cent annually for three years.

Additionally, in the UCP’S October 2019 budget, post-secondary funding was cut by 12.5 per cent over three years.

“More than ever we need to invest in students, which in turn is an investment in our economy. Students will not be silent while they are forced to balance the budget for institutions in Alberta,” Breen said in a statement.

The student representatives on the board voted against the increase and organized a silent protest at the board’s meeting room with a group of 25 students, according to SAMRU’S release.

“Students wanted board members to understand that these increases will adversely impact students’ well-being and their ability to contribute to Alberta’s economy once they graduate,” the release said. “Students say that balancing the university’s budget on the backs of students could lead to further deterioration in student mental health and will impose an even larger and unplanned-for debt burden upon graduation.”

SAMRU statistics show that in 2018, half of MRU’S graduates left university with significant debt and an average of more than $29,000 in loans.

In January, the University of Calgary approved tuition increases up to 15 per cent, with some programs being hit harder than others.

The five per cent fee rise for most students will cost more than $300 in the 2020-21 school year.

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology continues to look at all its options for addressing the upcoming “budget challenge,” which includes discussions on tuition pricing, spokesperson Chris Gerritsen told Postmedia.

Bow Valley College expects a decision to be made mid-march as it works through the appropriate approvals, said spokesperson Shannon van Leenen.

Students will not be silent while they are forced to balance the budget for institutions in Alberta.