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gateway July 15th, 2013
Issue No. 2
Volume 104
THE
TH E O F F IC IA L STUDE NT NE WS PA P E R AT TH E UN I V ER S I T Y OF A LBERTA
Tuition Hike International students face increase in tuition fees
Michelle Mark News Editor
International students at the University of Alberta will see their tuition hiked for the 2013–14 academic year, although domestic students remain protected from fee increases by a province-wide tuition freeze. The Alberta government doesn't regulate international students’ fees, and although it will cover the cost of the 2.15 per cent tuition increase previously scheduled for all postsecondary students, the U of A is seeking additional revenue to help recover from the 7.2 per cent cut to its base operating grant. Vice-President (Finance & Administration) Phyllis Clark said international students’ tuition will be adjusted by an increase to the International Differential Fee (IDF) multiplier, and will fall in line with the original 2.15 per cent tuition increase tied to inflation. “We’re treating the IDFs in the same way as if we had had the tuition increase that was suspended,” she said. “The provincial government suspended the tuition increase that had been passed, but we’re saying, for IDFs, it’s as if it had not been suspended ... so, yes, it will increase by the rate of inflation, but it will have that multiplier effect on top.” Through the IDF multiplier, international students already pay approximately twoand-a-half times the amount domestic students pay for tuition. But Clark said that even with the hike, the revenue it generates from students won’t come close to offsetting the budget cuts. “It’s definitely a small, small contribution
toward what will obviate budget cuts,” she said. “It won’t be nearly enough, because that’s a small slice of our student body, and we do have, also, some obligations that we share that money with specific areas that do work and support international efforts.” Clark added that she doesn’t know whether the increased fees will deter international students from attending the university. “I don’t think this is a substantial change, because the increase that maps back to the CPI was so small in cost increase,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference for students or not.” But Students’ Union President Petros Kusmu said the fee increases are greatly concerning, particularly since the provincial government has emphasized that students won’t be burdened by the budget cuts announced back in March. “I think it’s ridiculous that we’re having these large increases to international students’ tuition. The government and the premier made it quite explicit that these budget cuts were not going to fall on the backs of students,” he said. “They said, ‘We will not raise tuition.’ And by the university doing this, it’s quite ridiculous that they can get away with it. And if the government allows them to get away with it, that’s an unbelievably huge concern, because that’s essentially the government lying, and there’s no tolerance for that.”
Please see Tuition hikes PAGE 4
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