We need your help. Tell Premier Eby & Minister Sunner that students can't afford tuition fee increases. 

NEW WESTMINSTER—Students are concerned that the provincial government’s post-secondary sector sustainability review, announced on Tuesday, will lead to increasing tuition fees.

The review, which aims to find short- and long-term solutions to the never before seen financial crisis facing the province’s 25 public post-secondary institutions, includes the review of tuition policies, among other areas, with the goal of identifying opportunities to adjust and improve revenues. The government’s announcement also indicates that any new funding sources will not come as a result of additional government money.  

“This only leads us to conclude one thing, the government is considering removing, weakening or making exceptions to the Tuition Limit Policy, and allowing students to cover the growing deficits faced by institutions,” said Debi Herrera Lira, Chairperson of the BC Federation of Students (BCFS). “This policy has been in place protecting affordability for students and families in BC since 2005 and is critically important in making sure everyone who wants to get an education in our province can afford to.”

The financial troubles facing the post-secondary sector are shocking. 19 out of 25 institutions are forecasting at least one annual deficit in the next three years and for the first time, a sector-wide consolidated deficit position is expected.

The government states that the operating grant it provides public post-secondary institutions has grown by $1.2 billion since 2016-17, but this increase only covers negotiated wage increases and targeted seat increases. Current operational funding provided to institutions does not account for inflation, aging infrastructure, or unique and increasing institutional mandates.

This situation should not come as a surprise to the government. In 2022, another sector-wide review was launched by the province, and later quietly dropped before completion. That review found government funding has not kept pace with rising operating costs at institutions. It also concluded that institutions have become overly reliant on international tuition fees for revenue, a reliance encouraged by the provincial government.

“It’s good that the government is finally acknowledging the seriousness of the problem, but it’s not practical to talk about long-term sustainability of a system that is proven to be systemically underfunded with operating funds eroding more each year, without committing new funds alongside meaningful changes,” said Herrera Lira. “You don’t get more nurses, trades people, teachers or STEM professionals by cutting programs and raising tuition. At some point, the government has to fund the system it says it depends on.”

On average, an undergraduate student in BC pays nearly $27,000[1] in tuition fees over the course of their education, before factoring in the cost of housing, food, transportation and textbooks. The average undergraduate student also graduates with $32,800 in debt owed.[2] As the province focuses on becoming the engine of Canada’s economic growth and strengthening its workforce with its new ‘Look West’ Industrial Strategy, increasing tuition fees will only hurt this strategy.

Institutions are already making tough decisions to mitigate revenue losses with more than 80 programs cut, suspended, or paused across BC and over 900 staff laid off. These decisions are increasing the cost of education, delaying graduations and hurting communities that rely on institutions as economic anchors and a pipeline to train a local workforce.

The BCFS is also concerned about the unusually short timeline, of less than 4 months, set for this review. A process of this magnitude requires careful analysis and meaningful engagement. A rushed process risks producing recommendations that are incomplete, unbalanced, or disconnected from what students are experiencing on the ground, and overlooking the root causes of the system’s financial crisis. 

“The BCFS will participate fully in this review and make it clear that students cannot afford tuition increases. We are committed to exploring changes in the system that will stabilize institutions, but not at the expense of students and their families,” said Herrera Lira. 

[1] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710004501

[2] https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710003601

Read the Government Announcement of the Post-Secondary Sector Sustainability Review

Read the Review's Terms of Reference