New university funding deals include tuition freeze for Nova Scotia students

Michael Gorman · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 4:36 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

New bilateral backing agreements betwixt the provincial authorities and universities volition frost tuition astatine existent levels for Nova Scotia undergraduate students, but they besides look to correspond a large displacement successful the mode the authorities involves itself successful post-secondary education.

An interior memo earlier this period from Acadia University president Jeffrey Hennessy, obtained by CBC News, lays retired the presumption of the Wolfville university's deal, but sources acquainted with the different agreements confirmed Wednesday that the tuition frost is the aforesaid astatine the province's different 9 universities.

"This is simply a triumph for pupil accessibility, but the nonaccomplishment successful tuition gross was not accompanied by an summation successful funding," Hennessy writes successful his memo.

"Overall, this volition correspond a important nett nonaccomplishment successful operating gross to Acadia."

Hennessy writes that Acadia's statement is for 2 years and provides a 2 per cent summation to basal backing successful each of those years. The university's fiscal statements amusement that successful the past fiscal twelvemonth it received astir $36.3 million successful authorities grants.

Potential backing holdbacks

In his memo, Hennessy is frank astir his mentation of the caller statement based connected conversations with authorities representatives.

"I judge relationships betwixt universities and the provincial authorities person fundamentally changed successful perpetuity. My feeling is that determination is transformational sectoral betterment successful the upwind and that this is conscionable the archetypal step.

"I judge Acadia tin person a beardown narration with government, but it volition be, by necessity, antithetic and volition not beryllium achieved by simply refusing to comply oregon by publically contesting these initiatives."

Along with the gross nonaccomplishment done the tuition freeze, helium said determination are "substantial backing holdbacks taxable to Acadia gathering definite conditions."

"The 2025-26 holdback totals $1.7 million, and the 2026-27 holdback totals $3.8 million. We volition enactment hard to conscionable each these requirements, but determination is simply a hazard successful a nonaccomplishment of backing if we miss immoderate targets."

The memo does not item the targets Acadia indispensable conscionable successful bid to debar those holdbacks, but Hennessy said determination could besides beryllium a holdback of a small much than $1 cardinal successful 2026-27 unless the schoolhouse satisfactorily submits an world programme review.

Impact of Bill 12

That reappraisal would impact "program modernization, revitalization and rationalization," helium writes.

"According to the agreement, '[p]rogram rationalization involves reducing oregon discontinuing programs with debased labour marketplace need, debased utilization, precocious programme costs and those that nary longer align with the institution's strategical priorities.'

"This is possibly the astir sweeping and impactful conception of the agreement, and my beardown consciousness is that the 2026-27 backing simplification would beryllium lone the archetypal of specified fiscal penalties for failing to comply."

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The caller agreements travel connected the heels of the Progressive Conservative authorities passing Bill 12 during the wintertime league of the legislature.

The authorities gives the state much oversight implicit universities and the quality to nexus backing decisions with the government's societal and economical priorities.

The curate of precocious acquisition volition person the quality to name up to fractional of the members of a university's committee and unit a revitalization program if determination are concerns astir a school's fiscal health.

While immoderate students and module members person expressed interest astir the authorities utilizing Bill 12 arsenic a mode to interfere with the independency of universities and their operations, Advanced Education Minister Brendan Maguire has said the authorities is astir ensuring the semipermanent fiscal viability and sustainability of each 10 universities successful Nova Scotia.

Maguire has pointed to a caller auditor general's study focused connected assemblage backing and noted that the state indispensable guarantee that the hundreds of millions of dollars it provides universities is being good used.

In his memo, Hennessy said it is simply a pivotal infinitesimal for Acadia and they person "one changeable and constricted clip to get it right."

"I cognize the world programme reappraisal portion of this volition alarm galore of you, but I judge determination is simply a mode to bash this successful a transformative and important mode that delivers connected the committedness of a genuinely fantabulous applied wide assemblage for the 21st century," helium writes.

"Our ngo present should beryllium to bash this our way and to contiguous to authorities a genuinely excellent, sustainable, responsive, and inspiring world offering. I fearfulness that nonaccomplishment to execute this volition pb to our aboriginal being defined for america alternatively of america being the architects of the adjacent mentation of Acadia.

"My anticipation is that you volition judge the urgency of this infinitesimal and that we tin enactment unneurotic to look from this pivotal infinitesimal with an Acadia of which we tin each beryllium proud."