Memorial University’s Faculty Association says a recent report on tuition increases at MUN highlights the problems with the erosion of public funding for the university, and a shifting of the provincial debt “onto the backs of students.”

MUNFA President Josh Lepawsky was responding to the release of “Passing the Buck,” a study on the impact of increasing tuition at MUN conducted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

He says successive cuts in funding to the university have already had an effect on operations and as students face increases in tuition costs, students will end up paying more for less.

He says many academic units and staff were already at a breaking point before the pandemic, having lost administrative staff and colleagues essential to keeping programs running.

He says burn-out is at an all-time high and now members are being asked to increase course caps, or eliminating enrollment caps altogether.