Officials at Mount Allison University say the school can’t afford to rebate tuition for time lost during a three-week faculty strike, but students aren’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.

The Sackville, N.B. university posted its response to a proposal from the students' union for the rebate on its website, but students say they are frustrated and willing to put up a fight.

“A tuition rebate is a right the students have and we’re not currently receiving it,” says one student.

“I don’t think they should get away from this. It feels like they’re robbing us,” says another.

Students calculated the university saved about $850,000 during the strike. Their pitch to the school was to see that money returned to students through bursaries, but the university says it cannot afford to do that.

“There are a number of issues that are still outstanding that have to go to arbitration and we have to be prepared and plan for those,” says Ron Byrne of Mount Allison University.

The university says it understands the strike made for a stressful semester. Officials say they are using some of the money saved during the strike to extend library hours and accessibility to counsellors, but some of the university’s 2,400 students say they aren’t buying it.

“They say they have all these services they are going to offer students with the money they saved, but realistically, for the students who are just going to be here another month, it’s not going to do them any good,” says one student.

“A tuition rebate would be more of a gesture of apology and goodwill rather than the money,” says Mariah Martin Shein. “I’d like some kind of gesture.”

The university says, if there were to be a tuition rebate, student services would feel it in the future.

“Those decisions are not always easy, they’re decisions that are in the long-term benefit of the institution,” says Byrne.

The ultimate decision comes down to the Mount Allison Board of Regents, which could disregard the university’s recommendation and turn the money over to students. The board’s next meeting is in May.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Sarah Plowman