A rally was held in downtown St. John’s yesterday against the proposed hike in tuition at Memorial University.

Beginning in the fall semester of 2022, tuition for any new domestic student will more than double to $6,000. Current students, or those enrolling this fall, will see four per cent increases each year until 2026 while the cost for international students will more than double to $22,000.

Former, current and future students expressed their disappointment in the proposed increases during the march through the Pedestrian Mall.

Doménica Lombeida, an international student from Ecuador, is currently completing her undergraduate degree. She says all of her plans after graduating are gone.

She had hoped to continue her studies at Marine Institute for a post-graduate diploma, but now that’s up in the air.

Felicity Forward will be a part of the first group of MUN students who will be affected by the tuition hike. She says growing up, she always thought she would attend Memorial, for a certain price. Now leaving the province looks like more of an option.

Forward says COVID-19 had already created barriers for students but this is another barrier after two hard years of school.

Forward says many of her peers are considering leaving the province for post-secondary, or skipping university altogether.