Over the next two years, students across Alberta will be saving loads of money due to the NDP government, according to faculty at Lethbridge College.
Simon Griffiths, Chief Financial Officer is part of the Executive leadership team Lethbridge College that distributes the portions of the surplus reserves and capital budget the board of governors allocates every year.
Griffiths outlines the process of deciding who and what at the college will get priority.
“There’s three levels, the first one is urgent, the second one is this stuff is getting old and we really need to address it in the near future and the third one is this stuff would be nice to have,” Griffiths said.
Even with the tuition freeze in effect, Griffiths remains confident no students or programs are likely to be affected.
“We have never dropped a program because we haven’t funded the required equipment,” Griffiths said. “We have always made sure the equipment is there for the students.”
When the Alberta government decided to roll back market modifiers and halt tuition increases, they had a plan set to reimburse institutions for any potential loss, according to Gwen Wirth, Lethbridge College’s Communication Specialist.
“They were looking to benefit the student, but they were making sure they didn’t put post secondary institutions in a bad position by doing so,” Wirth said. “The college didn’t see a difference, their budget balanced from what they originally forecast.”
Due to the governments promise and the college balancing the budget, Linda Sprinkle, Manager of Student Awards and Funding feels the students are in a better position than before.
“This year they increased living allowance, if you’re living away from home you should’ve seen at least a $100 increase and there are plans for even more grants from the federal government,” Sprinkle said.
She did share a bit of advice for students attending school over this period of time and hopes they consider how lucky they are.
“Students were really fortunate, they were scheduled to pay more and a lot of students are unaware this was going to happen and the change in government is what stopped it,” Sprinkle said.
