‘Still struggling’: Post-secondary unions hoped for more support in Alberta budget
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. –
Unions representing post-secondary students and faculty are expressing their concerns about funding in Alberta’s 2024 budget.
“The budget 2024 was a bit underwhelming for students to see,” said Maleeka Thomas, president of the University of Lethbridge Students’ Union (ULSU).
“Given the ongoing affordability crisis in Alberta, students are still struggling to afford rent given the high levels of inflation, so those are areas we would have loved to see some sort of increase.”
The budget allocates $6.3 billion for advanced education, an increase of $189 million compared to the 2023-24 forecast, including $2.5 billion in direct operating support for Alberta post-secondary schools.
That total will increase by $102 million over the next three years to support 3,200 additional seats and curriculum updates for apprenticeship programs, along with 10 million over the next three years to create more mental health spaces in schools.
The budget will carry over an annual two per cent cap on tuition increases, which Thomas is grateful to see, but she says it doesn’t do enough.
“It definitely impacts the way we access post-secondary education,” she said. “Often time, students are facing a lot of affordability issues when it comes to food insecurity and housing security and there hasn’t been much uptake in that from the provincial government.”
Those concerns are shared by faculty at many post-secondary institutions.
“We’ve heard from the University of Alberta that it’s basically a flat budget,” said Dan O’Donnell, president of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA).
“It was a zero budget, which is really something like a 10 per cent cut with the inflation over the last while and population growth.”
O’Donnell, who is also a professor at the U of L, says the budget doesn’t assist in growing class sizes.
He also questions the amount of funding being given to private institutions compared to public.
“I think it’s extremely disappointing to see the government put a 25 per cent increase into the private-sector college area while holding the universities and colleges at below inflation,” he said.
Faculty and students are encouraged by a $26 million investment for the U of L to establish a rural medical teaching school but want to see more sustainable funding to support students and staff across the province.
“Alberta is funding post-secondary education in a responsible way that respects taxpayer dollars, provides students with the most value for their investment, and ensures we continue to produce a skilled workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” a spokesperson with the Ministry of Advanced Education said in a statement.
“With Alberta 2030 as our guide, we are working to transform and modernize post-secondary education while ensuring post-secondary education is accessible and affordable for those who wish to pursue it.”
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