Leah HennigAfter rejecting exceptional tuition increases (ETI), the University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) rolled out the red carpet for the Ministry of Advanced Education. The UASU had only nice things to say in its press release about ETIs. And it seems to have forgotten that the ministry hasn’t been and likely won’t be the champion of helping students.
Undoubtedly, no ETIs for the next year is a huge win for incoming students. It means that they won’t see their tuition potentially double. But it’s only for one year. The ministry could approve ETIs next year and the U of A still plans to continue on increasing tuition within the allowed amount.
It’s now a norm that the U of A increases tuition every year. Andrea Dekeseredy and Ping Lam Ip, two PhD students from the U of A, compiled a table of the tuition increases over the last four years. The table also showed the accumulative increase of tuition over the last four years. According to their data, the university’s annual tuition increases since 2020 have added up to a total increase of 31.8 per cent for domestic undergraduate students.
For international undergraduates admitted before 2020, it amounted to a 24.6 to 26.4 per cent increase. International students admitted as of 2025 will be paying 21 per cent more. Increases to graduate students’ tuition fees are about the same.
As of right now, the U of A is limited to a two per cent increase for domestic students. That could change. But even continuous increases of two per cent adds up over time. Rejecting ETIs may prevent incoming students from being priced out of a post-secondary education, but it’s not enough.
Beyond that, the ministry and provincial government bears some responsibility for these increases. There’ve been major cuts to the U of A’s funding since the United Conservative Party (UCP) came back to power in 2019. The UCP’s cuts have amounted to over $200 million. Coincidentally, tuition has increased every year since. But now Minister of Advanced Education Rajan Sawhney is saying she cares about students and the UASU is accepting that.
Ultimately, giving the ministry such high praise for rejecting ETIs feels weird to students. Especially when we are still dealing with annual tuition increases and student aid difficulties. But it also feels naive for the UASU to readily accept Sawhney’s statement as something to celebrate. If the ministry cared about the concerns of students, we wouldn’t be where we are today. And the UASU should be pushing back against and holding Sawhney accountable for these empty words.
Instead the UASU issued an entire press release to thank her. I can’t find any other time that the UASU has done that. It seems like the priority was to suck up to the ministry and that updating students about ETIs was just a bonus.
Students need more than just a rejection of ETIs. We need more action to help support students. Which can mean properly funding the U of A so students don’t have to pick up that slack as well as making sure students can depend on financial aid to come through when they need it. If the UASU is ready to accept and celebrate whatever the ministry says at face value, how far will we really get?
