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MRU students can expect an increase in their tuition and fees for the 2023-24 academic year. During the Thursday, March 16th meeting of MRU’s Board of Governors, the Board voted on proposed increases to tuition and fees as part of their larger Budget 2023-24 discussion. The proposed changes ultimately passed with a vote of 15 to 1.

This year, SAMRU REC members voted no to the proposed increases, citing the significant increases to tuition, the athletic fee, the MRU student services fee, inflation, and affordability as reasons behind their decision.

Keep reading to learn more!

Your SAMRU Representation Executive Council (REC) President and REC Vice-President, Student Affairs serve as student members on the Board of Governors, while SAMRU’s REC Vice-President External and REC Vice-President Academic are members of MRU’s Tuition and Fees Consultation Committee (TFCC), which recommends increases to tuition and fees are based on recommendations.

Below are some key figures for the new budget that students should know, taken from MRU’s Tuition and Fees Q&A subpage.

Tuition:

• Domestic Tuition is increasing by 5.5% for all programs*
• International tuition is increasing by 5.0% for all programs†

*with the following exceptions: Academic Upgrading will increase by 1.5%, Language Education for Academic Purposes (LEAP) will increase by 3.0%, and Occupational Programs will increase by 3.0%.
†with the following exceptions: Academic Upgrading will increase by 1.4%, LEAP will increase by 3.0%, and Occupational Programs will decrease by 23.6% to match comparable programs at other institutions.

Overall, this results in an institution-wide increase in tuition of 5.27% on average. MRU’s recommended budget breakdown suggests that 42% of the institution’s yearly revenue will come from tuition and fees, which is in line with the last few academic years.

However, thanks in part to the advocacy of your REC team and their volunteer advisors on the Tuition and Fees Consultation Committee (TFCC), MRU will be committing a portion of this tuition increase to enlarge their student bursary fund by 20% from $1M to $1.2M, meaning 200 more students will benefit from this $1,000 bursary!

Mandatory Fees:

For the fall and winter terms, MRU’s mandatory non-instructional fees will also increase to the following amounts:

• The Recreation and Athletics fee is increasing from $127 to $140.04, an increase of 10%
• The Student Services Fee is increasing from $305 to $397.05, an increase of 30%

Specialized Course Fees:

• Non-Credit Work Experience/Cooperative Education courses are increasing to $634.67 per course
• Professional Development/Coop Education Preparation courses are increasing to $317.32 per course

Please note that the above Tuition and Fees figures represent a full-time rate, and that part-time rates will be adjusted according to MRU’s Tuition and Fees Schedule.

The REC team would like to thank MRU for their continued support of the student bursary and for the substantial increase in funding to this bursary which will benefit an additional 200 students. Your REC team will continue to push for further student consultation on matters of tuition and fees, as well as increased financial support for students in their advocacy work, both with various internal committees and external to all levels of government.

If you have questions regarding tuition and fees or other aspects of REC’s advocacy work, please reach out to representation@samru.ca.