Potential tuition increases leaves Ontario students with unanswered questions

As McMaster University shows support for the blue-ribbon panel’s proposal for a tuition increase, student's may find themselves having to pay more in 2024/2025

In Ontario, many universities are currently experiencing financial deficits. Most recently, Queen’s University hired external Nous Group to manage its ongoing financial situation, which has resulted in a hiring freeze at the university. A contributing factor to these ongoing financial crises is the Ontario government's 2019 tuition freeze and 10 per cent reduction in tuition fees.

The Ontario government formed a blue-ribbon panel in March 2023 to address the root cause of these financial deficits. This panel has engaged in consultations with several stakeholders, including Canadian Federation of Students and Ontario and College Student Alliance. They collected in written submissions from groups in Ontario. In combination of discussion with stakeholders and written submissions formulated a report that proposed solutions for both universities and the Ontario government.

One of the solutions for the ongoing financial deficits suggested by the blue-ribbon panel was to remove the tuition freeze and increase undergraduate tuition by five per cent for the 2024/2025 academic year. They also suggested an increase per year, which would either be by two per cent per year or the percentage increase of the consumer price index. In Canada, the consumer price index is meant to look at how prices for goods change over a designated period of time. As of January 2024 the current percentage difference of the consumer price index is 2.9 per cent.

At McMaster University, the standard course load for a full-time student is 15 units per semester or 30 units per academic year. Tuition for an Ontario-resident third-year sciences student is approximately $5,955.30, not including additional faculty fees or student union fees. If the 5 per cent tuition increase were implemented, these students would pay $6,253.07 by their fourth year.

Similarly, Ontario-resident second-year engineering students currently pay $12,109.68 in tuition, which would increase to $12,715.16 by their fourth year. 

McMaster Students Union president Jovan Popovic stated the MSU stands firmly against a tuition increase. He added that the initial tuition freeze in 2019 has been valuable for many students struggling to afford basic necessities.

“We are in a time of an affordability crisis, where it's become increasingly difficult for students to live with all the costs surrounding them. Whether that be food, transportation, just cost of living in terms of housing, leases rent, it's become so increasingly challenging that having at least one thing going for them with the tuition freeze is a serious help,” said Popovic. 

McMaster University provided the Silhouette with a written statement in which they expressed that a tuition increase is important, though they hope that the government will simultaneously increase financial aid, to ensure sustainability for students.

“A modest increase to tuition, accompanied by increases to student financial aid, would help strengthen universities’ ability to continue setting aside funds to support student success,” said McMaster University, in a written statement to the Silhouette.

On Jan. 31, the government of Ontario spoke at a press conference to the recommendations for tuition increase and explained that while domestic in-province students will not experience an increase in tuition, domestic out-of-province students could experience upwards of a five per cent tuition increase.

Popovic believed that ultimately students shouldn't suffer as a result of the financial deficits of the institution. He shared that these gaps in funding should be supplemented by the government of Ontario.

“We support more funding for universities. We just don't support it coming at the stake of students who can hardly afford to live,” said Popovic.

Abigail Samuels, MSU vice-president (education) and Malika Dhanani, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s executive director, shared similar sentiments to Popovic. They stated that this pattern of underfunding within the university goes back almost a decade and has been further exacerbated amid tuition freezes. However, they also noted that the problem is rooted in the fact the government hasn’t increased funding for Ontario universities in that time. 

“The pattern of underfunding from provincial brands has been very prevalent throughout the years. Then what kind of exacerbated the issue was the fact that tuition was cut. . .without the gap in funding being supplemented through provincial grants, it has limited the amount of revenue that institutions are getting for their operating revenue,” said Dhanani.

The government of Ontario recently announced that they will be providing over $1 billion to funding for Ontario universities. From that, $900 million will be pooled into an education sustainability fund.

The Council of Ontario Universities responded to this announcement stating that even though they appreciate the funding, they still encourage the government of Ontario to consider the full extent of the blue-ribbon panel’s recommendation for government-based funding. The recommendation they are referring to is a 10 per cent increase to the current government-based funding, with the same opportunity for growth as the student tuition growth.

Prior to the government's funding announcement, Samuels and Dhanani expressed the urgency of securing adequate funding for universities from the government of Ontario. When universities begin to experience these financial deficits, programs begin the suffer. This includes mental health resources and accessibility services. Samuels commented on the importance of understanding that the lack of government funding has ripple effects that will directly impact students. Samuels and Dhanani expressed that they hope the government of Ontario reflects on the recommendations shared by many of the stakeholders. 

"When we think about the impacts of limited provincial funding, we have to think about the actual well-being, and health impacts it has on students and what that does to them for in the future... I think the idea of increased sector funding always trickles down to ethe unintended adverse impacts we don't necessarily think of, but that have real consequences for students," said Samuels.

In summary, the MSU and OUSA stand against the tuition increase and urge for more government-based funding to support universities. This is an ongoing story.