Dalton Ehry (left), President of the Students' Association of Medicine Hat College, speaks with college president Kevin Shufflebotham on Friday - Photo by Ross Lavigne

By Charles Lefebvre

Budget 2019

College to deal with funding changes in provincial budget

Oct 25, 2019 | 4:40 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Post-secondary institutions across Alberta were the recipient of cuts from the provincial government after it tabled its budget for 2019.

And Medicine Hat College was no exception.

Kevin Shufflebotham, president and CEO of the college, says they learned the extent of their cuts Thursday evening from a phone call with the province, saying the grants they receive from the province will be reduced by $1.8 million.

“60 per cent of our funding comes from the Alberta grant, and 20 per cent comes from tuition,” he said. “So this decrease in funding of $1.8 million, we’ll just have to go through it, and see how it impacts our college.”

The college will receive $32,251380 from the province during the 2019-2020 school year through the Campus Alberta Grant. In 2018-19, the college received approximately $35.9 million in provincial funding.

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The Ministry of Advanced Education plans to reduce funding for universities and colleges over the next four years. The department’s budget is $5.1 billion this year, with plans to reduce it to approximately $4.75 billion by 2022-2023.

the province is also planning to implement a new funding model for the 2020-2021 budget year, in which the province will begin funding colleges and universities based on performance, with a focus on accountability, student service delivery and job creation, according to the budget.

And it could become more expensive for students to attend post-secondary education starting next year.

The tuition freeze which has been put in place for the past several years will be lifted in 2020. Colleges and universities will be able to raise tuition by a maximum of seven per cent starting next year.

Shufflebotham did not say if any increases in tuition were coming next year.

“We have various levers,” he said. “We have the Campus Alberta grant, and we have tuition fees, so we’ll have to look at everything very closely.”

Dalton Ehry, president of the Students’ Association of Medicine Hat College, says they were expecting the end of the tuition freeze.

He notes an increase in tuition could have an impact on who can attend college and university going forward.

“Any sort of increase to costs to get into post-secondary institution, it’s going to be harder for students to get in, harder for students to afford textbooks, living, rent, that kind of stuff,” he said. “Any sort of increase is going to be detrimental to students.”

The college and the Students’ Association will be meeting in the coming months to discuss what will happen with tuition, and help manage any increases.

“So far, we’ve had a really good relationship with the senior executive council, and I want to be able to keep that going forward, and making sure that we’re consulted and it’s going to be a fair increase for the students next year,” said Ehry.

“We’re here to serve the community, and we’re here to serve students,” said Shufflebotham. “So, any decisions we make that impact our students will definitely involve our students.”