Chu and Frederick Retroactively Ask Permission

Or at least that is what one is led to believe after reading this excerpt from the agenda for the council meeting. Take a look and decide for yourself.

From Blake Frederick & Timothy Chu

15. MOVED , SECONDED

Whereas since the freeze on tuition fees was lifted in 2002, university tuition has

skyrocketed; and

Whereas following the government's announcement that control over tuition fees would be returned to the universities in 2002, the UBC Board of Governors immediately raised tuition by 23%

Whereas BC undergraduate tuition fees have doubled and graduate tuition fees have risen by 184.4% since 2002; and

Whereas in comparison to other provinces, BC has experienced the fastest increase in tuition rates; and

Whereas since 2002, average student debt in the province has climbed to amongst the highest in Canada at $27,000; and

Whereas students with little or no debt were more than twice as likely to finish a university degree, graduation rates for students with less than $1000 of debt being 71% while for those with over $10,000 debt only 34% completed their degree; and

Whereas access to debt is not the same thing as access to education; and

Whereas Statistics Canada examined the reasons why high school graduates do not continue on to post-secondary education and found "financial reasons" as the most common answer; and

Whereas high tuition fees have an even greater impact on access to professional programs and on international students; and

Whereas government grants to institutions fail to keep pace with the rate of inflation and in 2007/2008, UBC revealed a structural deficit of $24 million; and

Whereas students fear the University will seek to make up funding shortfalls through tuition fee increases; and

Whereas, the University recognizes the financial barriers presented by the cost of education in its Policy 72; and

Whereas the Government of Canada is a signatory to the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 13 of which binds signatory states to make higher education equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; and

Whereas the University of California Regents recently approved tuition fee increases for California public universities of 32%- an act which has caused occupations and public outcry from students around the world; and

Whereas Education is a Right,

Therefore be it resolved that the AMS

* oppose future tuition increases

* condemn the tuition increases imposed by the University of

California Regents

* call on the government and the University to reduce tuition fees to 2001 levels immediately and to work towards the reduction of tuition in future while replacing lost tuition revenue to the institution through increased grant funding

* lobby to progressively introduce free education in British Columbia as outlined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Note: Requires 2/3rd

Will replace non compliant previous policies.