LETTER: Pause on Cuts to Tuition Relief Grant

In 2021, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced that they would be phasing out the $68.4 million Tuition Relief Grant over the next five years, to be completely eliminated by 2026. Simultaneously, Memorial administration announced a plan to increase tuition by 135.3% for new domestic students and 74.5% for new international students, with all students incurring a 4% annual increase on tuition fees until 2026, at which point every student would then be charged the new, hiked tuition rate.

In 2022, when the tuition hikes were implemented, students immediately felt the burden. Within 2 months, the St. John’s campus food bank had closed down due to elevated demand. First-year undergraduate enrolment dropped by almost 20%, and continued to drop every year following these increases. In 2024, it was announced that undergraduate enrolment was at a 40-year low, dropping under 13,000 for the first time since 1983.

In the budget announcement last week, the government announced that the Tuition Relief Grant, which had been steadily cut for three years straight, would not be further reduced for the 2025-26 year. The Minister of Education further clarified that this meant the grant would not be fully phased out until 2027 at the earliest.

This pause on the continued cuts is a direct result of student advocacy, lobbying, and the Fund MUN campaign. Additionally, within the budget, over $13 million was added to Memorial’s operating grant, as well as an additional $70 million set aside to tackle deferred maintenance over the next eight years.

It is for the above reasons that we formally request a pause on the 4% tuition increases for the 2025-26 year, as shown in the framework below.

Students have worked hard to increase funding to the university, and we believe that it is in the best interest of the institution, and a quite reasonable request, to slightly alleviate this burden on students.