Tuition will be going up again in 06/07

According to Premier Dalton McGuinty, college and university tuition fees will go up starting next school year.

The announcement, made during a speech the Premier was giving in Ottawa, came as a shock to Ontario's 400,000 post-secondary students, whose tuition has been frozen since September 2004.

“We are going to lift that freeze,” McGuinty said. “Yes, the price of milk, bread, rent and mortgage, houses will go up. The issue is by how much.”

“If you ask Ontarians, they think he's breaking a promise,” said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

Greener said consultations about the tuition fee framework has been underway since the summer and were scheduled to continue into the fall, which is why the premature announcement came as a shock to CFS.

“We are still working with the government to develop a new tuition fee framework that will ensure postsecondary education is accessible to all willing and qualified Ontarians and that if tuition fees are increased that those increases will be fair and moderate,” said Tyler Charlebois, Director of Advocacy for College Student Alliance (CSA), in a press release. CSA, along with other associations affiliated with colleges and universities are consulted on a regular basis concerning government post-secondary educational policies.

“We have been told that a decision on the continuation of the freeze would not be reached until December 2005,” Greener said.

FSU President Melissa Smart recommends instead of extreme hikes in tuition fees, the provincial government should consider an increase that corresponds with the 2.6 per cent inflation rate.

Smart, who sits on the Tuition Consultation Committee, will be meeting with Chris Bentley, Minster of Colleges, Universities and Training, along with other members of the CSA to discuss tuition next week. At that meeting Smart will be making a presentation on Fanshawe's Tuition Set-Aside Fund, which sets aside 30 per cent of tuition increases from every student in the college to use for bursaries and work study positions within the college.

“I recommend students come speak with us and we can help them understand,” Smart said about those who may have tuition questions.

The May 2005 Ontario budget announced an investment of $6.2 billion in post-secondary education over the next five years. Funding for low-income tuition grants, in cooperation with the federal government and the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, were announced in August for 16,000 first year students.

The McGuinty liberal government has yet to release an official announcement about the expected tuition increases.