NSNDP

September 6th, 2017

Nova Scotia tuition fees increases highest in the country

Fees will grow by 5.5 per cent this year

HALIFAX – New data released today by Statistics Canada shows tuition fees in Nova Scotia are increasing faster than any other province. Tuition fees in Nova Scotia will increase by 5.5 per cent this year. The national average is 3.1 per cent.

“Stephen McNeil and the Liberals are responsible for the fastest rising tuition fees in the country,” said Lenore Zann, NDP spokesperson for Advanced Education. “Skyrocketing tuition fees and high student debt are one of the major reasons young people are forced to leave Nova Scotia. We should be focusing on keeping young people here, not scaring them away with high fees.”

Average undergraduate tuition fees in Nova Scotia are up $400 per year to $7,726. Students in Nova Scotia are paying $1,200 more than the national average and almost $5,000 more than their peers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 2015, the Liberals allowed universities to increase fees without controls, leading to increases as high as 37 per cent at some institutions. As a result of high fees, students graduate with an average of $37,000 of student debt in Nova Scotia.

“How can we expect young people to begin their lives here, when they leave school with some of the largest debt loads in the country?” said Zann. “Instead of making our young people choose between getting and education and taking on massive amounts of debt, we should be investing in opportunities for young people by reducing and eliminating tuition fees.”

The NDP Caucus has proposed eliminating tuition fees altogether at the Nova Scotia Community College and reducing tuition fees at universities by ten per cent, as a first step toward affordable and accessible education for all.

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