Alberta’s premier Kenney is wreaking havoc on the province’s post-secondary education system — not just through cuts and privatizations but through a brutal reshaping of public education itself.

The UCP Advanced Education Minister Nicolaides approved increases ranging from 16 to 104 per cent. Affected programs are business, engineering, law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and education.

UCP Advanced Ed Minister Nicolaides confirmed U of C BSc engineering, the medical doctor (MD) and the master of business administration (MBA) programs will have “exceptional increases" to tuition.

Faculty and students in the University of Lethbridge Music Department are fearful of the impact of a “drastic restructuring” of programs brought about by the Kenney government’s brutal funding cuts.

More recent and accurate data, than in the MacKinnon report, used to justify cuts, shows Alberta spends less per student on instruction, at the university level, than comparator provinces.

This data is more recent — and likely more accurate — than those in the MacKinnon report which continue to be used to justify government policy.

UCP govt to cut post-secondary spending by $1.6 billion. That number increases to more than $3.5 billion if you factor in inflation and population growth.

University students protested tuition increases and budget cuts in a "Student Day of Action" at the University of Calgary, Mount Royal University, MacEwan University and the University of Alberta.

In its 2021 budget plan, the UCP cut funding to advanced education by 1.4 per cent, which is the equivalent of $72 million, cut operating cost funding and allowed tuition increases of up to 7 per cent.