FREDERICTON – The executive director of the New Brunswick Student Alliance says unless government increases funding to universities, more students will forgo university or leave the province to study elsewhere.
Lindsay Handren says university operating grants are falling short and universities are running deficit budgets.
The University of New Brunswick, Mount Allison University and the University of Moncton have posted budgets with deficits ranging from $400,000 to $3.6 million.
New Brunswick’s Liberal government has frozen tuition and operating grants as it tries to deal with its own deficit – projected at $477 million this year.
Annie Sherry, chairwoman of the board for the Student Alliance, says it’s not sustainable in the long-term to have students cover the rising costs of post-secondary education on their own.
She says government needs to increase operating grants.
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