Another two per cent tuition hike at TRU
Tuition at Thompson Rivers University will rise again when classes resume for the fall semester — and that is not sitting well with the school’s students’ union.
“They are addicted to tuition,” TRU Student Union (TRUSU) president Dustin McIntyre told KTW.
“They balance the budget on the backs of students and, quite frankly, we’re sick of it.”
Last week, TRU’s board of governors voted in a two per cent tuition hike for the 2012-2013 school year.
Two per cent is the maximum yearly increase allowed under provincial legislation.
“Every year, they choose to raise tuition by two per cent,” McIntyre said.
“This year was no different.”
TRUSU would like to see the university lobby Victoria to increase per-student funding to the same level as B.C.’s other research universities — UBC, UVic, Simon Fraser and UNBC.
McIntyre said those schools receive up to $8,000 more per student from the province than does TRU.
He said the reason is TRU’s funding model, which dates back to the institution’s days as the University College of the Cariboo — when it was strictly a teaching institution.
Now, with TRU billing itself as a comprehensive university, McIntyre said, the funding model — and the money coming from Victoria — should be changed as well.
According to Christopher Seguin, TRU’s vice-president of advancement, that dialogue with the provincial government is already underway.
“We are in a continuous conversation with the provincial government,” he said.
“They have been very responsive to our priorities in the past.
“We have confidence that, given time and the proper economic environment, we’ll be able to work our way through this.”
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