RORY MACLEAN
News Editor

Students can expect a tuition increase of about five per cent in the coming year, say University of Saskatchewan administrators.

The increase is three per cent higher than was recommended by the Saskatchewan Students’ Coalition, created by University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union president-elect Chris Stoicheff.

Stoicheff had the support of the NDP opposition in pushing for an increase of two per cent, or one that is pegged to inflation. He accused the U of S and the Sask Party government of short-sightedness in tuition management.

“I think they need to plan for long-term tuition management and that involves more moderate tuition increases rather than the one we saw this year, which is unsustainable,” he said.

“If it was five per cent every year, that would be a 25 per cent increase in five years,” he said.

Students need to be able to expect what increases will be over four or five years, the term of their education, he said.

Next year’s tuition increase has not yet been formally set, however. It still needs to be worked out by University Council and the Board of Governors, said U of S provost Brett Fairbairn.

But with the $10 million increase in the U of S operating grant announced in the March 24 provincial budget, U of S vice-president finance and resources Richard Florizone predicts an increase in the neighbourhood of five per cent.

“That grant is about 70 per cent of our income. Another big chunk of that, about 30 per cent, is tuition,” he said.

The Saskatchewan government offered an additional $16.3 million to universities and colleges to limit potential tuition increases, the largest share of which went to the U of S in the $10 million increase to its operating grant, bringing the total grant up to $262 million.

The University of Regina received $4 million of that and the remaining $2.3 million is divided among the other institutions, like SIAST.

The increase offered is a few million short of what was requested by the university. It had been pushing for a 5.2 per cent increase, which would have brought the total provincial funding up to $265.9 million.

“It’s a little bit short, but given the circumstances that the province has faced and the other universities have faced, it’s a pretty good result,” said Florizone.

Fairbairn says the size of the grant will allow the U of S to go on with much the same level of programming. “They’ve shown their commitment,” he said.

Cam Broten, NDP education critic, thinks the government could have done better for the university and students.

Broten said a larger operating grant could have helped mitigate the increase, something he saw as a real possibility.

“There’s actually more revenue coming than most people realize,” he said.

– –