Students at the University of Saskatchewan rallied Thursday, calling on the provincial government to consider university students’ needs — including tuition increases — as the province prepares the next budget.
“This money-grabbing institution does not give a damn about us,” Nigel Hakeem, a student at the university, told the crowd.
“I have $35,000 of student loan debt, and you know what? After I’m finished at this university, I’m going to have to pay that off.”
The University of Saskatchewan’s Students’ Union (USSU) spearheaded the rally. It has six points it wants the Government of Saskatchewan to consider.
The most notable is waiving tuition for students leaving foster care — many of which are Indigenous — and scraping interest on student loans.
Other asks:
- a reasonable and predictable tuition policy that would help limit tuition increases over a four-year period;
- increases to unrestricted institutional funding;
- a subsidy for open educational resources, which would help students pay for things like food and rent; and
- providing more financial aid for international students.
“We want to ensure that the students of Saskatchewan are adding to the plan for growth that the province has set out to ensure that Saskatchewan continues to be the envy of the country.”
The rally comes on the heels of the university’s proposal to raise graduate student tuition. If approved on March 23, grad students’ tuition would go up at least 50 per cent in five years.
The USSU said it worries undergraduate students could see something similar happen to them. Some students tell Global News they’re already struggling.
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“Personally I’ve had a lot of food insecurity, I’ve had to basically scrounge for free food at events so that I can just pay rent and not have to eat just beans and rice every day,” said Gabriela Heyer, a graduate student at the university.
Saskatchewan universities faced cuts to funding in the province’s 2017-18 budget, and the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan saw a zero per cent increase the following two years.
In an email statement to Global News, U of S’s provost and vice-president academic, Tony Vannelli, said the university is aware of the USSU’s concerns.
“Tuition rates are set according to these principles, and are not set in relation to provincial funding.”
Student groups met with the province’s minister of advanced education Thursday afternoon to talk about what they want.
A petition from the union representing graduate students is circulating, calling for the university to reverse its decision to raise tuition.
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