tuition

At the start of council, Jon O’Kane, UNB Student Union president brought council up to date on the ongoing contract negotiations between UNB and the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers.

For the third year in a row, there will be a tuition freeze in New Brunswick.

Finance Minister Greg Byrne officially announced the freeze at the 2010-2011 budget speech on Dec. 1.

Many students wonder where their tuition money goes when it leaves their pockets, purses and parents’ bank accounts.

In order to lobby for accessible, affordable education for students, UNBSU President Bethany Vail and VP External Jon O’Kane are traveling to Ottawa to participate in an annual conference put on by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA).

Post-secondary education is costly, and without change, it could get costlier. UNB has played host to significant public discourse over the past few months on how to tackle the rising costs. The Brunswickan has asked two student groups to present their views on the future of post-secondary education in the province. The New Brunswick Student Alliance is a provincial-level student lobby group, of which the UNB Student Union is a member. The Coalition for Accessible & Affordable Education is a new student group that is dissatisfied with the status quo.

Criticisms are mounting over student financial aid policy supported by both the UNB Student Union and the New Brunswick Student Alliance.

A newly-formed student group called the Coalition for Accessible and Affordable Education hosted a “Slash Fees Forum” on Monday, where a panel of students and faculty discussed the effectiveness of current student financial aid policy.

Approximately 50 students and faculty members attended the forum in Tilley Hall.

Student Beat

University is a unique experience for each individual. Take myself, for example. During my four years of study in business administration I have been in the co-op program, Student Union, Senate and Board of Governors.

Dear Editor,

Set your watches, and mark your calendars: Jan. 21 is going to be a date to remember. Why is that, you may ask? Well, while you would be right to point out that Jan. 21 is Squirrel Appreciation Day, this particular Jan. 21 will also be the day that Canadian students will have accumulated a total of $13 billion in student debt.

It’s no secret that tuition is costly.

Coupled with additional fees for the Student Union, campus media, facilities improvement, technology and a health and dental plan, the total cost of fees at UNB is $6070 for the average student in 2009.

It doesn’t stop here either – books are virtually a mandatory purchase, and for some, like science students, the price of textbooks can climb to $1,000 per year.

While other fees are broken down and explained, many students are left questioning where that big, bulky tuition fee is going.