Dear Minister McDougall and the MacEwan University Board of Governors,

I am writing to you today as a student at MacEwan University, in Edmonton, Alberta, to voice my opposition to the planned increases to tuition and fees on the MacEwan University campus and to ask for the revision of the recent changes to Alberta’s student aid system. 

Tuition and fees at MacEwan have increased substantially every year for at least the past seven years, without clear rationale or measurable increase to the quality of my education. While I understand there are costs associated with operating a university, students should not be treated as cash cows to fund the ambitions of the university, without a clear sign of how current students will benefit from this spending. 

There is an affordability crisis on Alberta’s campuses, and students are stretching our dollar as far as it can possibly go in order to invest in ourselves and in our province by getting a post-secondary education. This looks like skipping meals daily, living in unsafe conditions due to cost limitations, and working second and third jobs, to the detriment of our academic performance. 

As inflationary pressure on the university grows, so too does the pressure on myself and other students. The difference is, we shoulder the burden ourselves and work even harder than we already are to make up the difference, while the institution looks to me and my classmates for even more money, to receive the same or worse quality of education than before. 

A lack of sufficient classes for graduating students, the absence of appropriate study and class space, and inadequate student supports are just some of the concerns students have had over the past number of years, and on top of all of this, the increasing cost of education is exponentially increasing food insecurity on campus. 

Recent changes to the student aid system in Alberta have exacerbated things further, pricing out some students entirely from an education at MacEwan. These changes assume that parents and spouses are always ready and willing to contribute financially to a student’s education. As we know, the affordability crisis in Alberta is not limited to campuses, and Albertans across the board are struggling to make ends meet. Against this backdrop, there is little evidence that suggests students are receiving significant financial support from our families. 

I have made an investment in MacEwan when I choose to spend my hard earned money on tuition and fees, and the university is not keeping up their end of the bargain. When there’s enough money in the accounts to build a new building while already planning for the next one, then there is also enough money to maintain quality without burdening students further.

As a student at MacEwan, I urge board members at the university to reject the increase in tuition for the upcoming academic year. As an Albertan, I am asking the Hon. Myles McDougall to reconsider changes to the student aid system, and re-open the door to a post-secondary education for students who rely on student loans to get through their credential.