Post-secondary students say they’re pleased with education allotment in N.B. budget
The New Brunswick Student Alliance (NBSA) says it was happy to see the 2023-24 provincial budget take steps towards supporting post-secondary students.
The budget included an increase to the Student Financial Assistance program by $7.6 million through their loans and bursary programs.
The province also announced a permanent two per cent increase to the operating grant and an additional 1.5 per cent based on enrollment.
"This budget, it means a lot for students in New Brunswick,” said Sydona Chandon, the executive director of NB Student Alliance.
“Because we've been seeing where inflation has really affected students, especially with the cancellation last year of the NBEI grant,” Chandon said.
The New Brunswick Student Alliance says it is pleased the province is investing in post-secondary education and hopes in turn it will increase growth and opportunity within New Brunswick.
"I feel it's important for retention to see investments directly in programs,” said St. Thomas University student Julie Evans.
“In all education programs, but especially in health care given the current state of our province.”
Inadequate funding from the government often results in an increase in tuition and university fees, which places a financial burden on students.
"A lot of our university students will be able to have money back in their pockets,” said Chandon.
“They won't have to face a dramatic increase in tuition because now the universities will have more funding to sustain themselves.”
But the students groups say there's more government could do to alleviate financial burdens on post-secondary students.
"When the government is developing housing plans in the future, they take consideration and acknowledgement that the student demographic is a separate demographic with a specific need,” Evans said.
“There's financial barriers associated with being a post-secondary education student rather than just lumping us in with general society.”
NBSA works with government and stakeholders, advocating for a post-secondary education system where any student can attain an accessible, affordable and equitable quality of life.
"We'd love to see the government account for inflation going forward with the operating grants and with financial supports for students,” Chandon said.
The New Brunswick Student alliance says they're hoping government will make investments in the future specifically towards post-secondary students’ mental health.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.