Tuition will rise an average 4.5 per cent across campus next year.

The University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors has approved tuition rates for the 2013-14 academic year, according to an email sent to students March 14 by Brett Fairbairn, university provost and vice-president academic.

The email said that tuition increases will vary by program, “but most programs will see an increase of 4.6 per cent or less, including arts, science, education, agriculture and bioresources, kinesiology, business and graduate studies.”

Tuition rates are reviewed annually and are set by the Board of Governors according to three principles: “comparability to similar programs at other U15 medical-doctoral universities”;
“accessibility and affordability for the majority of potential students”; and “the quality of our programs, and the need to ensure our students receive a high-quality education.”

Fairbairn wrote in the email that the university is looking towards “providing multi-year tuition rates for undergraduate students” as opposed to announcing rates each spring.

Tuition accounts for approximately 23 per cent of the university’s operating budget, while a majority of the budget — 68 per cent — comes from the provincial grant.

Undergraduates across Canada currently pay an average $5,581 in tuition, up five per cent from last year’s $5,313 average.

The average annual tuition for students in Saskatchewan this year was $6,017.

National inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was 1.3 per cent between July 2011 and July 2012.

Board of Governors Chair Susan Milburn said in a separate announcement on the university’s website that the increase in tuition has nothing to do with the university’s projected $44.5-million operating budget deficit.

“We have not and will not set tuition rates to balance the budget,” she said.

A full breakdown of tuition increases by college can be found on the university’s website.