A tuition increase could be coming to Manitoba post-secondary institutions.

The province has set the maximum tuition increase for the next academic year at four per cent. Each college or university decides their own domestic tuition increase up to that percentage.

Some students at the University of Winnipeg say it’s another hit to their already tight budgets.

“A full-time courseload I feel like isn’t really possible for a lot of students, just because of people having to work and not being able to afford tuition,” said English major Gabe Fars, who intends to pursue a master’s degree in September.

Despite securing a scholarship for a portion of next year’s tuition, Fars says it’s not enough to cover day-to-day life and has worked throughout the past four years to make ends meet.

Pre-vet student Rajvir Singh doesn’t agree with tuition increasing to four per cent.

“Scholarships are there, but not everyone will get a scholarship at the end of the day,” he said.

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Scholarships and bursaries are one of the ways the province is making university more affordable for students, Advanced Education and Training Minister Renee Cable said, adding they’re looking at changing some eligibility to give more awards to students studying in Manitoba rather than out of province.

“This is in conjunction with all the affordability measures that our province has brought forward in this budget as well,” she said.

“We’re taking the PST off of all groceries in grocery stores, continue to increase the renter’s tax credit, the homeowner’s tax credit, we have free birth control, free hormone replacement therapy, daycare subsidy.”

But University of Winnipeg Students’ Association president Alan Koshy says those measures don’t help all students, while they’re all affected by tuition hikes.

“They announced that for youth and kids, transit is free. Post-secondary was not even mentioned. They talk about health care, but international student health care hasn’t been provided,” he said.

University of Manitoba Students’ Union president Prabhnoor Singh says many students at his school are struggling. The union’s hardship fund, doled out on a case-by-case basis to students experiencing financial crises, was depleted with months left in the school year.

“We have had incidents of students reporting to us that they are having to choose between paying for food, putting food on their table, and having to buy textbooks or pay for their health coverage,” he told Global News.

Manitoba eliminated health care coverage for international students in 2018.

In a statement to Global News, University of Manitoba president Michael Benarroch said the university would support students with scholarships and bursaries.

“While we saw a rise in domestic student enrolment this fall, it cannot compensate for the 40 per cent drop in international enrolment or replace the revenue, innovation, and diversity of thought those students brought to our campus,” Benarroch said.

The four per cent increase only applies to domestic student tuition. International students pay several times the tuition domestic students do, and their tuition increase is not subject to any provincially imposed cap.

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