EDMONTON— The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) will be adding an additional 390 spots across seven high-demand programs because of funding in the 2014 provincial budget.
“These seven programs are certainly among some of our most highly demanded programs,” said NAIT’s Provost and Vice-President Academic Neil Fassina.
The programs being expanded are:
Chemical Engineering Technology
Civil Engineering Technology
Construction Engineering Technology
Electrical Engineering Technology
Instrumentation Engineering Technology
Petroleum Engineering Technology
Water & Wastewater Technology.
“Many of those engineering sectors are related to the primary economic drivers of energy and construction,” Fassina explained.
The high-demand programs were chosen by the provincial government based on graduate employment outcomes, employer support, labour market demand and student enrolment.
“I see it releasing pressure – not only to enable us to offer more seats for students coming in – but also allow us to relieve some of the pressure on the Alberta economy in terms of the graduates we’re going to be able to produce a couple years down the road here.”
The expansion will be funded by additional resources provided to NAIT by the province.
March’s 2014 provincial budget saw an increase of 5.5. per cent – or $2.8 billion – to Advanced Education.
READ MORE: Alberta’s 2014 budget- the areas affected
The previous budget in 2013 saw funding to Advanced Education cut by $147 million.
READ MORE: Alberta’s post-secondary institutions cautiously optimistic following budget 2014
In 2013, base Campus Alberta Grants from the province to NAIT totaled $145 million. That number was the same in the 2014 budget, but NAIT saw an additional $1.9 million in targeted enrolment collaborative initiatives. It is that $1.9 million that will be used to expand programming at NAIT.
Fassina explained that the funding is sustainable because there will be additional funding from the province to support the programs in subsequent years.
The additional 390 seats will be added over the next few years, between now and the 2017/2018 year.
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