March 22, 1999
(Education)

Budget highlights 1999/2000 Department of Education Post-Secondary System

A skilled workforce is critical to our economic future. Our post-secondary education system consisting of Memorial University and Marine Institute, the College of the North Atlantic and several private colleges play an important role in ensuring our people receive the education and training necessary to avail of opportunities in our province's developing economy, especially its emerging industries.

Student debt load is a national concern. The following funding measures will go a long way in addressing both the needs of the students and the needs of our public education institutions. To assist students with their post-secondary education government has made the following commitments in this year's budget.

FUNDING FOR MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY

Government will remain true to its promise made in January and will increase its grant to Memorial University for the next two years by $7 million, from $99 million to $106 million. This will allow the university to avoid any tuition increases for at least two years and ensure the continued delivery of quality education. Students who pursue their studies at Memorial will have greater certainty about the cost of  their education and less debt upon graduation.

FUNDING FOR THE COLLEGE OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC

The College of the North Atlantic is a key element of the post-secondary education system in our province providing our people with the necessary skills in emerging sectors for our economic future. In order to ensure the college has sufficient funding to carry out its mandate and provide a continued high quality education, government is increasing its grant to the college for the next two years by $4.9 million, from $40.5 million to $45.4 million annually. This will allow the College of the North Atlantic to avoid any tuition increases for the next two years.

POST-SECONDARY AWARDS PROGRAM

Scholarships and bursaries are an important source of funding for post-secondary students. The federal government will introduce the Millennium Scholarship Fund commencing in 2000. In order to support students and bridge the gap until the introduction of the federal program, the provincial government is providing $4 million for an awards program to assist students with high financial burdens; $2 million was committed last year and the remaining $2 million is committed in the 1999/2000 budget. The fund will help ensure that those students with a proven academic potential have the necessary extra resources to obtain a post-secondary education at the provincial college or Memorial University of Newfoundland. The awards are administered and criteria finalized by a board of directors consisting of representatives from Memorial University of Newfoundland, the College of the North Atlantic, representatives of the Department of Education, and student representatives of the college and university.

Media contact: Nancy Healey, Communications, (709) 729-0048.

1999 03 22