Edmonton... The Alberta government has released a comprehensive framework that will make post-secondary education more affordable for students. A key component of the framework is a new tuition fee policy that will limit annual tuition increases to inflation starting in fall 2007, saving the average two-year diploma student $1,600 and the average four-year undergraduate student more than $3,800 during the course of program. The Alberta government will invest an additional $136 million over the next three years to support the new tuition policy. Those dollars will flow to post-secondary institutions to make up for lower tuition revenue.

"This affordability package was carefully designed - based on the input of students and stakeholders. It will make post-secondary education more affordable for students and do it strategically. It will encourage more Albertans to pursue education in whatever career path they choose, and it will engage the private sector and communities in the post-secondary journey," said Advanced Education Minister Denis Herard. "It includes measures that lower tuition, improve student assistance, make more scholarships and bursaries available, and target financial support to those that face greater challenges in pursuing post-secondary studies."

Designed as a long-term way of addressing the full range of costs faced by post-secondary students, the affordability framework includes several changes that will begin to be implemented immediately:

• tuition rolled back to 2004 levels and future increases limited to the Alberta Consumer Price Index
• more financial support for part-time students
• no longer requiring students to make payments on their student loans while on parental leave or completing an internship or residency program
• lifetime student loan limits extended for students returning to post-secondary studies who have repaid their previous student loans
• expanded eligibility for the Rutherford Scholarships
• expansion of programs that encourage Albertans to pursue post-secondary studies
• continuation of the rural incentive bursary beyond 2008/09

Immediate changes to student assistance will cost $14 million over the next three years and will be funded within existing budgets. The framework also includes plans for other changes to the student assistance program, including better reflection of students' living and learning costs, lower interest rates on student loans, incentives that encourage underrepresented groups to pursue post-secondary education, and new partnerships with communities and employers that improve the affordability of post-secondary education. Timing for implementation of these changes will be subject to funding approval in the government's future budget and business-planning processes.

Under the new tuition policy, average tuition increases will be limited to 3.3 per cent starting in September 2007. Under the previous policy, next year's increases would have ranged from six to 11 per cent.

Average undergraduate tuition is now expected to be $4,987 in 2007/08 - $717 less than under the previous tuition policy. A student starting a four-year degree next year will pay more than $3,800 less in tuition over the course of their program under the new tuition policy. A student starting a two-year diploma program will pay about $1,600 less over the course of their program. Plus both students will have access to student financial assistance programs (grants, scholarships, bursaries, student loans, and student loan remission) that are the highest funded in the country.

The additional $136 million investment will flow to post-secondary institutions over the next three years: $22 million in 2007/08, $45 million in 2008/09, and $69 million in 2009/10 to make up for the lower tuition revenue available under the new tuition policy.

The affordability framework is based on the recommendations of the A Learning Alberta report, which resulted from last year's review of Alberta's post-secondary system. The framework is available at: http://www.advancedEducation.gov.ab.ca/tuition/affordable_framework.pdf

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Backgrounder: Details on the new tuition policy and student financial assistance are attached.

Under the government's new tuition policy, average undergraduate tuition will be an estimated $5,418 in 2010/11. Under the previous policy, it could have been as high as $6,630. Based on this scenario, an average undergraduate student can expect to pay over $3,800 less in tuition over the course of their degree ($1,600 less for a diploma program). Next year alone, the difference in tuition is more than $700.

• Tuition rates will be set at 2004 levels. Students and apprentices have not faced a tuition increase in two years because of the Alberta government tuition rebate, which saved students $130 million. Under the new policy, tuition levels will be set at 2004 levels, where they were before the government tuition rebate program began (about $4,953 for an average undergraduate student).
• Future increases will be limited to the Alberta Consumer Price Index (CPI). In September 2007, CPI will be 3.3 per cent (based on CPI from 2004/05 to 2005/06). The average tuition increase at each institution will not be higher than 3.3 per cent. Under the existing tuition fee policy, tuition increases in September 2007 could have averaged anywhere from six to 11 per cent ($295 per student).
• Revenue shortfall: Under the new tuition policy, the Alberta government is committed to meeting the extra inflationary costs that post-secondary institutions face beyond CPI - an additional $136 million will be provided to post-secondary institutions over the next three years ($22 million in 2007/08, $45 million in 2008/09, and $69 million in 2009/10).
• What it applies to: The policy will apply to all post-secondary programs at public institutions where students enrolled in the program are eligible for student financial assistance. The policy will allow post-secondary institutions to engage in entrepreneurial and third party programs (for example, offering courses to companies on a cost-recovery basis). The 100 per cent differential fee for international students will no longer be part of the tuition fee policy, which will allow institutions to develop more flexible approaches to international students.
• Consultations required. Post-secondary institutions will be required to consult with student groups each year on proposed tuition increases. As well, with tuition now governed under government regulations, any changes to the tuition fee policy will require the Alberta government to consult with student organizations and post-secondary institutions.

• Currently, Alberta's scholarships, grants, bursaries, and student loan remission programs provide an average of nearly $1,200 on a per student basis - the highest level in Canada.

 




 

• Alberta students currently graduate with among the lowest net student loan debt in the country. Alberta reduces or eliminates the provincial student debt of high-need students, leaving many with only federal student loan debt. Nearly 8,500 students completing their studies in 2005/06 received almost $40 million in remission on their provincial student loan.

• The Alberta government provides more scholarship funding than any other province in the country. In 2005/06, a total of $46 million was provided through 50 different scholarship programs. During the last fiscal year, over 70,000 Alberta students received more than $418 million in federal and provincial loans, grants, bursaries and scholarships.
• There is a 97 per cent employment rate for Alberta's graduates, among the highest in the country, and Alberta post-secondary graduates go on to have the highest take-home earnings in the country.
• Over a lifetime, someone with a post-secondary degree can expect to earn over a $1 million more than someone with less than a high school education. About 85 per cent of Alberta post-secondary graduates recently surveyed, agree that the benefits of their program of study were worth the costs (according to Advanced Education's most recent Graduate Outcomes Survey).
• Over 90 per cent of graduates report a high level of satisfaction with Alberta's post-secondary system, according to Advanced Education's most recent Graduate Outcomes Survey.

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