The Université de Moncton will be increasing its tuition by as much as 8 per cent this fall.
In April, the provincial government cut $8.7 million in funding for nursing programs at the University of New Brunswick and the University of Moncton.
The tuition increase is due to a projected deficit of more than $1 million as a result of provincial government funding cuts.
President of the University’s student federation (FÉÉCUM), Pascale Rioux is upset at how the school handled the situation.
She says they were disappointed that the university decided to make the increase a whole 3 per cent higher than expected back in May.
Tuition will increase by two per cent for undergraduates and for all other students by eight per cent.
Nursing students will also have to pay an extra $500 to help cover the cost of clinical training.
After already taking away free tuition and internship bursaries for a number of students, Rioux says she doesn’t believe they can take another financial blow.
She says it may also discourage enrollment from international students who will be paying up to 870 dollars more for tuition.
Rioux says although U de M still offers lower tuition costs than other schools in the province, they are the only french university.
The University is currently holding it’s open-house visits to try and attract students. Rioux says they aren’t being informed of the increase.
“We are very disappointed that…they are not telling [the students] the truth about the fact that they are going to be paying 8 per cent more in September and I think that those students should know that before taking the decision to go to U de M,” she says.
The federation will be speaking to the government and the school to try and prevent this situation from happening again next year.
