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Tuition increase possible

Students could be handing more cash over to the school next year if another way to budget the books cannot be found.

At Western’s senate meeting on Nov. 13, several preliminary methods of increasing the school’s revenue were presented. Among them was a 4.5 per cent increase to students’ tuition.

“This is in no way a concrete percentage increase,” Michael Tithecott, senator-at-large, said. “While it is likely that some sort of increase will happen, there is no clear percentage given at this time, rather estimates.”

Tithecott explained the increase was based on the increase amount from previous years.

Emily Rowe, University Students’ Council president, said the USC will encourage proper resources are put in place to ensure all students will still have the opportunity to attend post-secondary education.

“Students never look forward to an increase in tuition, myself included,” Rowe said.

While tuition increases are not ideal, they might be necessary in order to maintain Western’s edge on other schools.

“I am against the raising of tuition beyond the inflation adjusted index […] but [I] recognize the need for funding growth to ensure Western remains and expands its international competitiveness,” Matt Hyland, senator-at-large, said.

He added that provincial regulations peg tuition raises to inflation and yearly raises, limiting the extent to which fees can be increased.

“I would say a tuition raise is not a possibility in the short-term, at least until after the Reaching Higher plan has expired.”

The Reaching Higher plan was announced by the province of Ontario in 2005 and was meant to increase accessibility to higher education.

Other student senators offered more skeptical views of tuition increases at Western.

“It is likely for an increase in tuition to occur because the University is still trying to recover their lost endowment funds [from] the previous year.” Nathan Caldwell, senator-at-large, said.

“The University did, however, promise to stand by their mandate that no student will be refused access […] due to financial constraint,” Tithecott added.

Western is not alone in its financial struggles, but some universities are taking a different approach.

According to a press release from the University of Toronto, the school has decided to carry a short-term debt of $45 million. The university does not plan on cutting financial aid to balance the books.

Fred Longstaffe, Western’s provost and vice-president academic, could not be reached for comment at press time.

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