U of M facing 3.75 per cent tuition hike in 2021-22

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This article was published 24/03/2021 (1669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Manitoba board of governors has given the go-ahead for a tuition hike averaging 3.75 per cent across all programs in the 2021-22 academic year.

In a news release Tuesday evening, the U of M Students’ Union said the move is estimated to generate a $14.9-million increase in tuition revenue, compared to 2020-21.

The students union said a briefing document provided to the university’s board noted a 1.75 per cent decrease in provincial funding — amounting to a $5.9-million reduction in operating grant money — would need to be offset by higher student fees.

“This mistreatment of post-secondary education extends far into the past, before COVID-19,” UMSU president Jelynn Dela Cruz said in the release.

“As the province recognizes our value as the next generation of skilled workers through the recent skills, talent, and knowledge strategy, students refuse to take the consecutive cuts to post-secondary education as our new normal.”

Dela Cruz noted the students union representatives to the board would vote against the tuition increase, but in favour of a handful of strategic funding allocations in the budget — including $1 million in student assistance funds, $1.2 million for enhanced teaching and learning, and a $250,000 allocation towards an equity and inclusion strategy.

The university was informed of the operating grant reduction at the end of January, marking the fourth consecutive year of funding cuts to Manitoba post-secondary institutions.