Tuition jumps yet again

Feeling the squeeze?

Instead of heading to The Hub for another round, students are now forced to deal with rising tuition costs hitting an all-time high in Canada.

Full-time undergraduate tuition has increased 4.3 per cent for the 2011-12 academic year, according to a report recently released by Statistics Canada. The move follows a four per cent increase in 2010-11.

According to the report, Canadian undergraduate students pay an average of $5,366. with the average Albertan paying $5,662, the fourth-highest amount country-wide.

The increase outpaces the Consumer Price Index, which was 2.7 per cent from July 2010 to July 2011.

People often point to the fact Alberta’s tuition prices are capped by the cost of living measure. However, it’s misleading as Alberta students also pay the highest mandatory non-instructional fees at $1,399.

Cash-strapped students may also be depressed to know books and supplies average $1,300 yearly.

But oh what a magical life it would’ve been 40 years ago.

You’d be surprised by how wickedly low tuition fees were just forty years ago.

Back then, the government paid 84 per cent of a university’s operating cost, with students picking up only 13.7 per cent of the bill in the form of tuition fees. That means a Mount Royal College student would have paid something around $2,300.

Now, the government only foots 57.1 per cent with the student’s portion almost tripling to 34.2 per cent.

The original number doesn’t account for the cost of living raise, but the proportion of government-to-student cost is failing each student.

Since we can’t live in the ’70s, the next best place would be Newfoundland and Labrador where their students pay $2,649 a year thanks to a tuition freeze.