“Common sense on campus”: New bill on tuition, institutionally neutrality

Myles McDougall, the minister of advanced education, tabled Bill 38 in the legislature on November 3. The bill will establish minimum standards for institutional neutrality, freedom of expression, and student codes of conduct through amendments to the Post-Secondary Learning Act (PSLA). 

Additionally, if passed, the bill would shift Alberta from caps on tuition increase to maximum tuition amounts for specific programs or groups of programs.

“Every student in Alberta should be able to speak their mind on campus, count on fair treatment, and know what their education will cost,” McDougall said at a press conference before tabling the bill.

McDougall said the changes come as per the recommendations on the Expert Panel on Post-Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness. 

The panel also recommended changing the funding formula for PSIs. McDougall said a new funding formula will be included in the 2027 Budget. 

A new tuition framework

Currently, and for the last few years, the government has limited post-secondary institutions’ (PSIs) yearly domestic tuition increases to two per cent. Institutions could apply for exceptional increases, which the ministry could approve. 

McDougall said the government is committed to keeping post-secondary education affordable and predictable. 

“Bill 38 will allow tuition maximums to be set for programs, or groups of programs, through ministerial order, replacing current yearly increases,” he explained. 

The changes will not apply to domestic students currently enrolled in their programs for the 2027–28 year. Those students’ tuition will be subject to the two per cent tuition increase cap.

The expert panel had recommended a new tuition framework that guaranteed tuition rates for the duration of a students’ program. McDougall said his ministry is still considering that recommendation.

When asked how the ministry will decide tuition maximums for programs, McDougall said the ministry will look at a number of factors, including the cost of delivery demand for the program.

“Accessibility and making sure that the tuition also reflects the amount of public contribution to the cost of that reflects the priorities of the province,” McDougall said. 

“When an institution speaks officially, we expect it to stay neutral,” McDougall says

McDougall explained that Bill 38 will be a framework for institutional neutrality and freedom of expression policies. 

“Campuses should be places where people can challenge ideas, hear different perspectives, and debate respectfully,” he said. “When an institution speaks officially, we expect it to stay neutral on political, social, and ideological issues.”

Students, faculty, and staff will still be free to share their perspectives. The changes are aimed at PSIs’ official statements or policies.

“People like Bill Flanagan, president of the University of Alberta, are quite welcome, as an individual, as Bill Flanagan, to make any statement he wishes,” McDougall explained. “However, if he’s going to make a statement on behalf of the university in this particular case, he would have to have institutional neutrality.”

McDougall also clarified that PSIs would still be welcome to react to provincial budgets, as that falls within their mandate. Expressing sympathy for tragedies or global conflicts would also be permissible.

However, McDougall said institutions should not take positions on global conflicts. “A position on Palestine and Israel for example, that is obviously political and there are very strong views on each side of that,” he said. “Institutions should stay away from that, expressing opinions or support on that.”

Institutions will be required to provide neutral environments

Regulations will establish the consequences for institutions not adhering to institutional neutrality. McDougall said the regulations should be in place sometime next year.

“The expectation is that the institutions will provide the environment, the neutral environment, for different points of view, including those that may not be popular to be expressed,” he said. “We will leave it up to institutions … how to manage that, but the principles are going to be clear.”

The Gateway asked what McDougall considers to be a neutral environment at a PSI.

“I don’t think it has to be that complicated. I think it’s the institution itself is neutral, it is not weighing in on political issues, it is leaving it to the people within a system, to be able to do that,” he said. 

“I would think that this is common sense in terms of how you would interpret that.”

McDougall also said the government studied nearly 200 student conduct policies last year. It found that the policies were written and applied differently across Alberta. Bill 38 will create minimum requirements for codes of conducts, but PSIs will still write their own policies and address concerns.

Removing parental income from student aid assessments

Separately from Bill 38, McDougall also announced that the government would be removing the parental income requirement for student loans.

Students had expressed frustration with the changes to student aid assessments, which re-introduced the consideration of parental income. It also required a minimum contribution. 

“Students and families told us that counting parental income in student aid assessments did not always reflect the support that parents could actually provide,” he said. 

Students who have already been assessed for student aid this year will be notified if they are eligible for additional funding. They can also request to have their applications reassessed.

“This change is expected to provide about $118 million in additional student loans within the existing student loan disbursement budget,” McDougall said.