Board approves student fees for 2012/13 school year

Increases to the University’s tuition fees follow the provincial framework and reflect government plans to support affordability and accessibility, the Board of Governors was told Tuesday before approving the recommendation of its Resource Allocation Committee for increases in domestic tuition of 4 to 8 per cent, depending on the program.

The fee structure will allow the administration to prepare a balanced budget for consideration by the board in May, says Mark Charlton, executive director of finance.

“With most of the University’s operating revenue subject to government regulation, it becomes increasingly difficult to meet the increases in costs as options for reducing discretionary spending become more constrained,” he says. “The University must maximize all opportunities to increase revenues to meet its fiscal obligations.”

Charlton says the extension of the provincial tuition framework for one more year resulted from dialogue between the government and the Council of Ontario Universities.

Fees for new first-year students in undergraduate professional programs – business, computer science, engineering, and law – will rise by 8 per cent, and by 4.5 per cent in all other programs. Upper-year undergraduates will see tuition increase by 4 per cent. Fees for graduate students will rise by similar percentages.

In recognition of what it deemed “extreme competitive pressures” in recruiting international students, the board approved tuition fee increases of about 5 per cent for first-year students in most programs and a 4 per cent increase for continuing students.

Under a proposal supported unanimously by the student representatives of the residence and Food Service Advisory Board and the Windsor Inter-Residence Council executive, residence fees will increase in a range from 0.5 to 5.0 per cent, and meal plan fees from 3.3 to 4.9 per cent.

The finance department will soon post to its Web site documents listing the fees approved Tuesday.