Students and the Opposition alike say tuition increases at MUN continue a pattern of education getting the short end of the financial stick.
The NDP’s Jim Dinn believes government would’ve found a way around the cuts had it been a different sector. He says he can’t help but think an oil company would’ve been treated differently to appear more attractive to investors. Dinn also slammed the government for suggesting MUN alone find more creative ways to absorb the cuts.
A student from Sri Lanka says MUN president Vianne Timmons is being hypocritical, citing recent news of perks that come with her job. He says his tuition fees shouldn’t be used to pay for Timmons’ expenses, which include tax preparation fees, a $12,000 car allowance, $18,000 housing allowance, $4,000 for fitness equipment and a personal trainer. He says he’d be more accepting of the tuition increase if Timmons and other senior staff took pay cuts.
The increases announced Friday amount to a doubling of tuition for new students enrolling in the fall of 2022, followed by 4 percent increases for several years after. Current students are exempt from the new rates but will see 4 per cent increases starting next year.
MUN has acknowledged it expects a 20 per cent drop-off in enrolment next year as a result of the increases.
Meanwhile, the province’s education minister does not believe a significant tuition hike will deter international students from attending Memorial University.
MUN announced Friday that they would be increasing tuition costs to offset cuts to government funding. For international students, tuition costs have doubled.
However, Tom Osborne, believes MUN will continue to attract international attention. He says the average tuition rate for international students is $32,000 a year, while MUN announced that they would be charging $20,000, which he says is on par with the average for Atlantic Canada. He cites MUN’s reputation as being enough as MUN is a “stellar” institution with rates less than the national average.
