Tying university tuition to inflation raises questions

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/06/2012 (5110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A plan by the Selinger government to keep future university tuition increases in line with the rate of inflation effectively neuters the people who run post-secondary institutions from making decisions on fees.

Craig Lee, chair of the University of Winnipeg’s Board of Regents, said Wednesday that Bill 2, the Protecting Affordability for University Students Act, instead gives that power to the province’s Council on Post-Secondary Education (COPSE).

“The University of Winnipeg board has the fiduciary responsibility for the management of the university, but this leaves the board without the tools to discharge that responsibility,” he said.

Lee said the bill’s wording has to be made more flexible. As it is now, the council would have the power to review whether a course-fee increase reflects the university’s costs. If not, the council could require the university to stop charging the higher fee and pay refunds to students.

“Who’s the management of the university?” he said. “This says COPSE should be the manager of the university. If we’re going to be figureheads, that’s kind of an empty job for somebody who wants top make a contribution.”

Lee’s concerns have been echoed by the University of Manitoba Faculty Association. The Canadian Federation of Students and the University of Manitoba Students’ Union also oppose the bill in that it’s short on offering details on future fee increases.

Since Bill 2 was introduced May 10, it has garnered little political opposition other than debate during its second reading on Tuesday. It went to a committee hearing last night.

During debate, Lac du Bonnet Progressive Conservative MLA Wayne Ewasko questioned the need to put into law what other provinces treat tuition fees as a matter of policy.

Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard said the bill only covers university students, not college or international students.

“It is an interesting fact that when we look at college students, that, in general, colleges have continued to receive funding increases lower than those received by universities, and yet their student fees are protected less than university students,” Gerrard said. “(An) interesting paradox of the way that things are working under the NDP.”

Advanced Education Minister Erin Selby has said the goal of the bill is to establish a process by which universities will receive a forecast for funding over a three-year period, to help them with longer-term planning and budgeting. The bill also offers stronger protections for university students in that they know tuition increases are linked to the rate of inflation and that the other fees are reasonable and justifiable.

But Lee said what the Bill 2 does not do is account for expenses incurred by universities above the rate of rate of inflation — at the U of W it’s an extra $3-million contribution this year to the university’s pension plan.

“It really puts us in a bind,” he said.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca