Government of Alberta rejects proposals for Exceptional Tuition Increases

The Government of Alberta and its Ministry of Advanced Education rejected all proposals for Exceptional Tuition Increases (ETIs) for the 2025–26 University of Alberta academic year.

On October 15, University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) business councillor Owen Pasay shared the news in an Instagram post. Pasay credited “dedicated UASU advocacy for affordability in higher education” for the rejection of the increases.

On October 17, the UASU issued a press release on the government’s rejection of ETIs.

“Domestic undergraduate tuition at the U of A has increased 32 to 77 per cent over the past five years, partly from the ETIs in 2022,” it read. “We thank Minister [Rajan] Sawhney for recognizing students’ needs at this critical time.”

Sawhney’s rejection of ETIs is a “welcomed gesture,” UASU Vice-president (external) Abdul Abbasi said.

“I think this will have a really big impact on student affordability, making sure that post-secondary education is a right for students instead of a privilege,” Abbasi said.

“There’s always room for improvement. There’s a lot more that can be done for students, and we’re going to keep advocating for that,” he said. “This year, affordability is the biggest concern we have in mind.”

Abbasi noted increased usage of the Campus Food Bank (CFB) as a concern for the UASU. According to Abbasi, he has shared these concerns with Sawhney.

UASU press release on ETIs is “irresponsible,” PhD student says

Andrea Dekeseredy and Ping Lam Ip, both PhD students in the department of sociology, said the UASU’s press release is “misleading.”

“It gives people an impression that there’s not going to be any increase next year. This is not true because we know that next year there’s going to be another two per cent increase for domestic students,” Dekeseredy said.

On October 18, Dekeseredy posted a thread on X in response to the UASU’s press release. Dekeseredy and Ip pulled data on tuition increases and funding cuts from the United Conservative Party (UCP) government, from 2019-23.

“ETIs are not the regular annual tuition increases that we’ve seen in the past five years. It’s misleading to highlight this as some sort of saving grace.”

According to Dekeseredy, it is hypocritical for the UCP government to take credit for rejecting ETIs because “it is their policies that have led to such high tuition.”

Ip mentioned the $200 million in cuts the U of A experienced from 2019–20 to 2022–23.

“We thought it was completely irresponsible for the UASU to thank the Minister,” Dekeseredy said. “Why are you thanking the person who has been robbing you for the past five years just because they’re going to rob you a little bit less this time?”