To the Editor:
University tuition in Saskatchewan is rising faster than anywhere else in Canada, and it’s already the second-highest in the country. Now, the government is taking aim at students in this year’s budget.
While enjoying nearly a decade of record revenue in Saskatchewan, our universities and post-secondary institutions should be on excellent footing and our graduates should have an advantage when it comes to getting started in Saskatchewan. But, that’s not the case.
The University of Saskatchewan, after being marred by the ill-advised TransformUS program, was forced to fork over $20 million to the government, and deal with a painful budget on top of that.
The University of Regina got just a fraction of what it needed in the budget. The university’s president says staff layoffs and program cuts will have to happen.
Students are the future in our province – to make them pay more and get less, while they are already dealing with the increasing strain of student loans and cost of living, simply doesn’t make sense.
Up until this budget, students could at least count on the Graduate Retention Program, but that’s not the case anymore. Take a single mom taking classes for example. She would have to earn almost $55,000 a year every year right out of university in order to qualify for the full benefit under this scaled back version of the Graduate Retention Program.
It’s clear that this government isn’t making post-secondary education a priority. Saskatchewan students deserve much better.
Warren McCall
NDP Critic for Advanced Education
