Student representatives from CFS-NL, MUNSU, and the Grenfell Campus Students Union, expressed their disappointment in the Board of Regents over a vote to reject a pause in planned tuition increase.
The Board of Regents was tasked with deciding whether to pause the 4% increase on tuition for the 2025-26 academic year. While some student activists expected a freeze on tuition after the provincial government halted cuts to the Tuition Offset Grant, the Board of Regents declined to do so.
Student leaders ‘shocked’ by Board of Regents
In a press release, CFS-NL Chairperson Nicolas Keough called the decision “ridiculous” and “insulting to students’ intelligence.”
“Memorial’s argument that they ‘didn’t receive direction’ on how to use the Tuition Offset Grant is ridiculous and is insulting to students’ intelligence.”
Keough argued that the university’s stated lack of direction on the grant was ironic. “The government shouldn’t need to tell you that the Tuition Offset Grant is meant to offset tuition – it’s literally in the name.”
MUNSU’s Director of External Affairs, Nathan Gillingham, stressed the economic hardship faced by students at the time of this decision. “It’s disheartening to see the continued effort to price students out of post-secondary education,” said Gillingham.
Suggesting that the move will negatively impact enrolment rates, Gillingham argued that MUN’s mandate directs the university to provide “accessible education and economic opportunities to the community at large.”
“This decision today is a contradiction to this initial mandate,” said Gillingham.
Adding to the criticism, GCSU President, Tyson Jesso, called for the provincial government to intervene. “We need to see the provincial government step in and force MUN to use this money in a way that doesn’t put the burden on the backs of students,” said Jesso.
Jesso also argued that just recently, during the Fall semester, the province’s Auditor General criticized the university for misusing the Campus Renewal Fee, contextualizing student frustration with the university’s utilization of the Tuition Offset Grant.
Memorial responds to student leaders’ reactions
In an email to the Muse, Memorial spokesperson Courtenay Griffin says that
“The Board of Regents decided the $13.68 million one-time pause in [cuts to the] the tuition offset grant is to be used to invest in critical strategic investments, such as recruitment and retention, student engagement and technology to ensure that Memorial is a more efficient, sustainable and learner-centric institution.”
The Muse will continue coverage of this story as it develops.