SURREY, BC/Unceded Territories of Katzie, Kwantlen, Tsawwassen, Semiahmoo, and Sto:lo First Nations

Today, post-secondary students representing student unions from across BC gathered outside the Post-Secondary Education Minister Jessie Sunner’s constituency office to denounce the government’s review of the public post-secondary education system and the austerity it represents.

“BC students are outraged that the government is proposing tuition increases, cuts, and mergers during this cost-of-living crisis,” said Kevin Root, Chairperson of the Alliance of BC Students. “Now that the federal government has limited the amount of international students the province can gouge, the provincial government is trying to pass the buck onto students and workers instead of taking responsibility for funding the system properly.”

In 1979, 90% of public post-secondary institutions’ budgets came from government funding; today, the government only covers 33-36% of the budgets of public colleges, universities, and institutes. Decades of underfunding have left the public post-secondary system vulnerable and in need of stable funding that protects these institutions’ public mandate and academic freedom. But instead of covering the funding gap left by the cap on international students, the government is trying to find ways to cut services that students rely on or pass the costs onto students.

In 2005, BC students were successful in pressuring the provincial government to reinstate the Tuition Limit Policy that limits increases in domestic student tuition to 2% annually. After years of underfunding, in 2011 the provincial government directed post-secondary institutions to increase their population of international students, whose tuition is unregulated.

"Students in British Columbia fought hard to get the provincial government to reinstate the Tuition Limit Policy in 2005, and for 21 years BC has guaranteed the cost of post-secondary education is affordable and predictable for students," said Solomon Yi-Kieran, Vice-President External of the UBC Alma Mater Society. “BC students cannot and will not go back."

The government initiated a review of the entire public post-secondary education system to be completed in 4 short months, with consultations to be finished by mid-January. This truncated timeline is ludicrously insufficient for a comprehensive review of the sector with meaningful consultation with students and other stakeholders. The public post-secondary education system is crucial for the training and development of the BC’s workforce and citizenry, and the government is putting the future of the province in jeopardy by hastily reviewing the sector with predetermined conclusions about cost cutting in mind.

For more information, please contact:

Kevin Root (he/him/his) Solomon Yi-Kieran (they/them)
Chairperson, Alliance of BC Students VP External, UBC Alma Mater Society
c: (250) 709-8991 c: (250) 816-0389
e: chairperson@bcstudents.ca e: solomonyikieran@ams.ubc.ca
www.bcstudents.ca www.ams.ubc.ca