According to a government announcement, the review will aim to calculate per student the funding block, which accounts for 75 percent of the county’s funding for the BC’s 25 post-secondary institutions each year. It is a formula that has been in place for more than 20 years – a formula that critics have long suggested has led to serious financial imbalances between major universities and more remote schools struggling to stay afloat. “We have been actively campaigning for the government in one way or another to be involved in this process. We know that almost two decades have passed since the funding review was completed,” said Michael Gauld, treasurer secretary at the BC Federation of Students. “We are happy that it is happening. Twenty years is a long time – especially for such an important public service as the post-secondary one that needs to be reviewed.”

Rising costs

The review will be led by Don Wright, a former head of the BC Institute of Technology, who later served as deputy prime minister, head of cabinet and head of public service. According to the government announcement, the main objectives of the review will be to create a fair and impartial funding model, better align funding with the skills and needs of communities served by colleges and universities, and expand support and financial support. accessibility for students. Students and educators have long complained about the rising cost of college and university education in British Columbia. (CBC)
Another objective of the review will also be to “ensure action for the reconciliation and implementation of the law on the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Success of Indigenous Students”. Brent Calvert, president of the BC Postgraduate Teachers Association, said plans for the review had been in the works for some time. “It’s very welcome news,” he told CBC News. “It has been 20 years since it was examined and education has changed significantly at the post-secondary level.” A 2018 submission by Calvert’s organization to a selected standing committee on finance showed changes in the early 2000s under the former Liberal government to the point where costs began to rise. At that point, the tuition freeze was lifted and the province moved from its previous formula to distributing scholarship blocks each year based on the target number of equivalent full-time students for each institution it serves. According to the submission, the rate of state funding fell in the intervening decades from up to 80 percent of budgets to less than 50 percent – leading to increased tuition and dependence on foreign students to cover the deficit. Larger research universities also have more potential places to raise money through grants and bequests. Calvert said the result was a slow erosion of programs in smaller institutions seeking to reduce costs while retaining the equivalent of full-time equivalent students tied to funding levels. The Federation of Post-Secondary Education Teachers also claimed that the tightening of the laces led to the recruitment of underpaid trainers at the expense of full-time teaching positions.

Targeted funding

Critics have called for an increase in funding for specific programs, especially for smaller institutions, where administrators had to cut back on courses to stay afloat. Welcoming a look at the funding block, Calvert said his organization was frustrated that the review was not being extended to targeted funding either, which is crucial at this time to develop programs to provide the necessary skills for professions such as nursing and pre-school education. Gould said affordability is a particular problem for students in communities outside the Lower Continent who feel compelled to move to more expensive locations to access post-secondary education. “There are large institutions that are well funded and their share of the pie is much larger in proportion to the smaller institutions, especially the more remote ones,” Gould said. Gould said all British Colombians are benefiting from the money being spent to help smaller colleges and universities train an emerging workforce. The first phase of the review will include consultation with student, labor and educational associations, along with public post-secondary education institutions. A final report of key findings will be published by the summer of 2023. The second phase will develop policy options and update the design of an “up-to-date, modern funding model”.