Tuition Fee increase planned

The Malaspina University-College Board, as part of its budget planning process to develop a balanced budget for the 2004/05 fiscal year, is contemplating an increase in tuition fees in order to deal with a projected shortfall of $2.648-million.

The proposed plan suggests tuition increases, as follows:

• Academic programs: from $102 per credit to $114 per credit (from $306 to $342 per course) - 11.76% increase




• Vocational programs: from $306 per month to $342 per month (from $3,060 to $3,420 for a 10-month program) - 11.76% increase




• Co-operative Education: from $452 to $506 per a co-operative education work term - 11.2% increase




• International fees: from $4,200 to $4,500 per semester, compared to 1,710 for domestic students - 7.1% increase. Fees for English-as-a-Second-Language programs remain at $3,900 per semester, which is the market rate for such programs.

Revenues from domestic and international tuition fees are expected to contribute an extra $1,650,000 to Malaspina's $80-million operating budget. Revenues from domestic and international tuition fees constitute 16 % of the total operating budget.

The budget planning process began last fall and projected a shortfall as a result of three main factors: (1) a $756,008 reduction in government funding announced two years ago; (2) $637,000 of fixed expenditures over which Malaspina has no control, such as incremental progression of salary scales, salary and benefit adjustments; and (3) $805,000 of increased costs of delivering programs, services and such expenditures as increased gas, hydro and postage rates, etc.

In the past month, deans and directors were given expenditure reduction targets for their budgets; $714,178 for instruction and $283,999 for services, totaling $998,177.

Suggested reduction approaches range from cuts to supply budgets; non-replacement of temporary positions, part-time hirings for some positions, or postponement of new hirings; on-line delivery of some programs and courses; elimination of courses that are not fully enrolled; and some courses offered less frequently. Some departments will seek ways to increase their revenue generation.

"We're doing our utmost to look for expenditure reductions without affecting the quality of our programs and services," said Malaspina president Rich Johnston. "At the same time we're examining various options of doing things differently, where possible."

"In the recent throne speech the government announced its intention to provide more money for the post-secondary education system in British Columbia. This is great news; however, at this time we don't know what this will mean for Malaspina University-College, so we have to proceed with our budget planning process in order to come up with a balanced budget for the next fiscal year that starts on April 1," said Johnston. "We're also very carefully examining the impact on our students of the recently announced changes to student financial assistance programs."

Post-secondary institutions are increasing tuition fees in response to six years of a tuition freeze (1995 - 2002) and, at the same time, increased student demand for programs and services. In the past ten years, provincial governments were forced to cut budgets for post-secondary education as a result of cuts in federal transfer payments.

The effective date for the tuition fee increase is tentatively set for September 1, 2004.

The Malaspina Board will cast its vote on tuition fees at its March regular meeting.