Mr. Speaker, the cost of attending post-secondary institutions continues to rise. With the exception of funding for travel, our Student Financial Assistance Program does not have any mechanism to review these costs on a regular basis and adjust funding levels available to students. For example, Mr. Speaker, the University of Alberta has announced that for the 2008-2009 academic year, the cost of tuition will go up by 4.6 per cent, and the cost to stay in student residence will go up by 8.75 per cent. This is fairly representative of what occurs every year at most southern post-secondary institutions and translates into $215 more for tuition and $335 more to stay in residence. This means that an N.W.T. resident will be paying roughly $550 more to attend and live on the U of A campus in September 2008.
When you add in the inflation factor for food, books, school supplies, personal care items and clothing, it would not be out of line to state that students attending the University of Alberta next September will be facing between $750 to $1,000 in additional costs. Students not living in subsidized university accommodations could conceivably face even higher rental cost increases given Alberta’s red-hot economy.
Mr. Speaker, we all want Northerners to excel in their post-secondary studies, but for this to occur, we have to ensure supports are in place and that the Student Financial Assistance we provide is adequate to ensure success. I believe that just like the annual food basket price review done for Income Support program clients, we need to review the funding that we provide under the Student Financial Assistance Program to post-secondary students on, at the very least, an annual basis.
Mr. Speaker, we like to say in the Northwest Territories that we have the very best student financial system in place anywhere in the country. I believe that in order to stay current with the ability to say that, we need to be consistent in the way we assess needed increases to the Student Financial Assistance program, because we definitely want to encourage our students to seek post-secondary education.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
