Post-Secondary Education

Over the course of the 1990s, massive federal funding cuts to post-secondary education along with the ensuing cuts in provincial operating grants to Manitoba universities and colleges resulted in tuition fee increases of more than 170 percent.
 
To curb skyrocketing tuition fees, the New Democratic Government announced in 2000 it would reduce tuition fees by ten percent and freeze all tuition fees for Manitoba universities and colleges. The tuition fee freeze was officially lifted in April 2008, and since then tuition fees have risen by over 10 percent
 
With a lower provincial funding allocation to universities and colleges over the past three years, the case has been proven yet again that increased tuition fees means lower government funding.
 
Governments cut funding while allowing tuition fees to rise because they fail to prioritise a strong public post-secondary education system. They ignore the fact that post-secondary education provides benefits to society as a whole, not just the individual.
 
More funding is required from both federal and provincial governments, especially because university adminstrators have increasingly turned to tuition and other use fees to cover operating expenses. However, it is also up to universities and colleges to choose the right prorities for spending. Too often, basic educational improvements like hiring more faculty and staff or mproving student services have been overlooked in favour of flashy projects and bigger bureaucracies.
 
Students must call on provincial and federal governments to prioritise post-secondary education and defend public education as a right for all.
 

Tuition Fees

Manitoba students enjoy the third lowest tuition fees in the country. This is due, in large part, to an eight-year tuition fee freeze in the province. To curb skyrocketing tuition fees, which increased by over 137 percent during the 1990s, the New Democratic Government announced in 2000 it would reduce tuition fees by ten percent and freeze all tuition fees for Manitoba universities and colleges. The tuition fee freeze was officially lifted in April 2008, and since then tuition fees have risen by over ten percent.
 
Tuition fees remain the most significant barrier that students face when trying to access post-secondary education. Tuition fees act as a flat tax, a cost applied to all students at the same rate regardless of their financial resources. According to Statistics Canada, students from low-income families are less than half as likely to pursue a university education than those from high-income households.
 
Given that at least 70 percent of new jobs require a degree, post-secondary education is becoming more and more of a prerequisite for participating in the labour market and earning an average income. The fairest method of financing post-secondary education system is through the progressive income tax system.
 
The system ensures that the wealthy and poor are taxed in a fair manner, reflecting their respective ability to contribute and the personal economic benefit obtained as a result of their education.
 
The benefits of investing in higher education go well beyond the individual. A highly educated workforce increases the tax base and reduces the cost of a number of other publically funded social programs, including health care, public safety and employment insurance.
 
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Funding

Over the past two decades, there has been a marked shift away from public funding for universities in Canada. In 1985, universities received 83 percent of their funding from government sources, and only 13 percent from tuition fees. By 2005, those figures had changed to 64 percent from government and 24 percent from fees. This has meant skyrocketing tuition fees for students, and lower overall funding for universities.

Since 2000, the tuition fee freeze and gradual funding increases have boosted the budgets of Manitoba’s universities and colleges. This year, $800 million in new federal funding has been transferred to the provinces for universities and colleges—Manitoba received a $24 million funding increase. However, when accounting for population growth and inflation, federal cash transfers to Manitoba still lag behind what they were fifteen years ago.

The provincial government has taken gradual steps towards filling this funding gap. Since 1999, universities and colleges have seen a 63 percent, or $180 million, increase in operating funding, not including special operating grants, capital grants, grants for students, annual tuition fee reduction grants provided to institutions, and additional tuition fee revenues due to rising enrolment.

At the 2011 Provincial budget announcement, the province heard the call of students and committed to multi-year funding at 5 percent increases in operational grants each year for three years. On top of this, the government announced significant increases in the Manitoba Graduate Scholarship, Manitoba Bursaries and ACCESS programs.

Now is the time to continue the momentuim built over the past year and pressure both the provincial and federal governments to ensure student issues remain a priority.

Click below to download a Funding Factsheet

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