Report Says Saskatchewan Colleges and Universities Need Tuition Rollback

Education in Saskatchewan needs to be more affordable.

A report authored by a former University of Regina professor says education in Saskatchewan needs to be more affordable.

The report is titled After the Freeze: Restoring University Affordability in Saskatchewan, and was authored by Paul Gingrich, a retired U o R sociology faculty member.

Gingrich released the paper prior to last week’s provincial election, hoping the two political parties could work to make university more affordable.

“Tuition went up very dramatically in the early 1990s and in the last decade it went up, over that period, about eight to nine per cent a year — way over the rate of inflation,” said Gingrich.

“Partly, I think universities were not being adequately funded so they found that they can rely more on tuition increases as a way of increasing funding.”

His report concludes that university education in Saskatchewan became more affordable because of the four-year tuition freeze and the growth of after-tax income.

However lifting the tuition freeze in 2009 increased rates by 10.6 per cent, putting the burden back on Saskatchewan students.

Gingrich also stated that the province’s government should institute a program of managed tuition reductions, phasing these reductions in over the period of several years.

Schools mentioned: University of Regina