The provincial government announced a new university funding plan.
Marilyn More, Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, announced a four per cent reduction in grant funding for the 2011-2012 academic year.
“Universities in Nova Scotia are being asked to manage within the same financial restraints that all provincial departments and agencies face,” she said in a news release. “I am confident in their ability to ensure the future viability of our world-class university system.”
The impact promises to be significant for ±«Óătv, which last year received $190.2 million from the government for its operating budget.
“We have a lot to consider,” says Ken Burt, ±«Óătv's vice president, finance and administration. “In light of this announcement, we'll need to work through our numbers and assess the implications to ±«Óătv.”
At the same time, Minister More said the province would cap tuition increases to three per cent. She added that she was committed to improving the province’s student assistance program—one of the recommendations of the O’Neill report, which was presented to the government last fall. In that report, economist Tim O’Neill said Nova Scotia had one of the weakest student assistance programs in the country.
For the last three years, under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the province and universities, tuition was frozen for all undergraduate, professional and graduate students. Nova Scotia students got an even better break on their tuition, with bursaries that amounted to $1,283 this academic year. That MOU is due to expire on March 31.
Minister More said the government is committed to maintaining the Student Bursary Program at a cost of $29 million a year.