The University of Alberta Graduate Students' Association (GSA), along with the University of Alberta Students' Union (SU), is disappointed that, at their meeting of March 16, 2018, the University of Alberta Board of Governors approved the proposed tuition increases for international students in 2018-2019 by 3.14%, as well as other increases that put cost pressures on students, such as a 4% increase to residence rates. Throughout the past several months, student leaders have spoken against both these proposals in a variety of governance venues; indeed, both the GSA and the SU have spoken against similar increases in previous years, urging the University instead to attach more weight to student consultation and to search meaningfully for other ways to alleviate budgetary pressures that do not disadvantage a large and important section of the campus community.
The GSA (as per its Board Strategic Work Plan) is committed to advocating for a tuition model that ties increases to the Alberta Consumer Price Index (CPI), rather than to the Academic Price Index (API) utilized by University administration in this proposal. In various meetings with University administration and various campus governance bodies, and during the GSA Council meeting on January 22, the GSA Directly-Elected Officers argued that this now approved API increase be lowered or grandparented for current international graduate students (meaning that at least they would not face such an increase to tuition during their program and only newly admitted international graduate students would pay the higher rate). Through the Alberta Graduate Provincial Advocacy Council (ab-GPAC), the U of A GSA has also been advocating to the government that international student tuition should be regulated so that there is more stability and predictability for our international graduate students.
The GSA firmly believes and has articulated that under the current system, our graduate students are not able to predict the potential tuition increases they will face each year, which can have a significant impact on their ability to plan and budget accordingly and, consequently, to successfully complete their programs. The U of A actively recruits international graduate students and those graduate students plan their decisions and budgets according to the information on tuition and fees available at that time; they were unable to plan for tuition increases that fluctuate every year.
Likewise, when international graduate student tuition was raised by API last year, the GSA surveyed all graduate students about the impact the proposal would have on them. The data from this survey emphasized that the financial situation of many graduate students is precarious and that tuition increases affect health and wellness, the ability to conduct quality research and meet academic milestones, and overall experience at the U of A. For example, a recent study at the University of Saskatchewan showed that 40% of students surveyed experienced some degree of food insecurity, and that international students were particularly vulnerable. There is also current research on the link between increased mental health challenges and lack of funding for graduate students.
The first objective of the University's Strategic Plan, For the Public Good, states that the University will ensure that "graduate students can attend the university through the provision of robust student financial support." The GSA is therefore concerned that this new increase to international graduate student tuition is not offset by the provision of increased financial support and believes that this will be detrimental to international graduate students, especially since many of them are already in precarious financial positions that affect their health and wellness and, by extension, the completion of their degree programs. Several other Canadian post-secondary institutions have refused to increase tuition and fees for international graduate students disproportionately to those paid by domestic students and also attempt to provide guaranteed funding packages to support their graduate students. The GSA was hopeful that the U of A would seek to be a leader in this area and sees this latest decision as damaging to the reputation of the U of A, both at home and abroad.
The GSA continues to provide supports for current graduate students affected by this tuition increase and will continue to advocate to both the University and the government that international graduate tuition should be predictable, regulated, and communicated in a manner that will allow future graduate students to make informed decisions regarding which institution they choose to attend, and the associated costs they can expect to incur for the duration of their program.
If you have any questions please email the GSA President at gsa.president@ualberta.ca or the GSA at gsa.frontdesk@ualberta.ca.