July 2021: Special update on change to undergraduate tuition
Yesterday Memorial University’s governing body, the Board of Regents, approved increases to Memorial’s undergraduate tuition fees.
Details about the increase are available in the Gazette.
Role to play
We know and recognize the fiscal challenge that this province is in. We recognize Memorial has a role to play.
The change in public policy around a tuition freeze was not unexpected: it was recommended in the Public Post-Secondary Education Review and by the Premier’s Economic Recovery Team.
Even so, adjusting tuition fees is not a decision that was made lightly.
It is a direct result of the provincial government’s planned $68.4-million cut to the university grant over the next five years, ending government support for the tuition freeze that was in place since the early 2000s.
The tuition increases have been planned to minimize impact on students, particularly current students.
There are no changes to tuition fees for this fall semester, or for the winter 2022 and spring 2022 semesters.
Mitigate the impacts
Beginning in fall 2022, tuition fees for current students, and new students who will be registering in the 2021-22 academic year, will increase by four per cent annually until fall 2025.
We have built in this four-year grace period to provide students time to prepare before the full tuition increase is applied effective fall 2026.
For Canadian students, Memorial will still have the most affordable tuition in Atlantic Canada, and for international students, Memorial’s tuition will be below the Canadian average.
The tuition fees for international students are based on the costs of delivering their education and supports. The university does not make a profit from these fees.
We are doing everything possible to mitigate the impacts of these changes, including giving students and their supporters a full year advance notice to adjust and plan for these changes.
Grants, bursaries and scholarships
The provincial government has announced new grant and loan changes to support Newfoundland and Labrador students entering post-secondary studies in the province.
More information can be found on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador website.
Today, Memorial awards more than $4.5 million in undergraduate student scholarships annually.
We commit to increasing our fundraising activities to add even more scholarships and bursaries to help students in need as well as to recognize high-achieving students.
The planned cut of $68.4 million to Memorial’s operating budget represents about a 20 per cent reduction — as big a challenge as this university has ever faced.
While the focus of today’s announcement is on tuition fees, we want to assure you that we are also looking for all opportunities to reduce costs while maintaining a high quality student experience.
Our new strategic plan, Transforming Our Horizons, calls on us to be more responsive to student needs and focused on their experience.
With these tuition changes helping to stabilize our operating budget going forward, Memorial will continue to provide university students with a world-class educational experience. Our students deserve nothing less.
Background information, including tables outlining the exact tuition fees to expect and how the new rates compare with those of other Canadian institutions, are available here.
If there is more we can do to aid your understanding of and support for these changes, please let me know.