Ontario will give Ontario colleges and universities $780 million in capital funding over the next two years, the province announced in its budget last week. The money will pay for infrastructure costs, including updating older facilities and building new ones.
The government has also promised a one-time $150-million cash relief injection to help postsecondary schools cope with immediate financial strains resulting from the recession.
Despite the capital funding, U of T still faces significant operational expenses, said university spokesperson Rob Steiner. The costs include supporting research, and updating and expanding campus facilities.
“[The $780 million commitment] is not the kind of funding that helps operate the university any better, but it gives us a better physical plan in which to do it,” said Steiner. “We’re going to have to make sure that over time we also have the support to actually operate those facilities we’re building now”
Dave Scrivener, U of T Students Union VP external, said the payouts aren’t nearly enough to make a significant difference. “To put the $150 million in perspective: the Faculty of Arts & Science at U of T has a $48 million deficit, it alone would need one-third of the money to bring it even,” said Scrivener. “Spread this $150 million over 17 universities and 24 colleges, and it’s far too little spread over a large area.” “The current financial situation U of T finds itself in comes out of structural problems, where public universities are forced to rely on the stock market over public investment,” added Srivener.
The 2009 budget has also committed $35 million for medical infrastructure and will create 100 medical school spaces across the province. Another $10 million will be used to expand graduate fellowships.
With government resources stretched, U of T is looking at increasing tuition. Steiner said an increase would likely be in the single digits, and that a significant amount of the revenue from a tuition increase would go back into student aid.
The budget has been criticized for failing to address student debt and financial assistance.
“This is by far the greatest down fall of the budget; that there are no tangible benefits to helping students financially,” said Scrivener. “It’s all focused towards institutions.”
“Ontario students have the fastest rising tuition fees, rising ancillary fees and are facing major enrollment pressures. We’ll need a balance of institutional funding and grants, as well as grants and tuition relief going directly to students, to effectively weather the recession.”
