The Government of Alberta has announced that it is extending its tuition freeze until the end of the 2019 academic year, but exactly what impact will that have on students? Here's a quick guide to how exactly the tuition freeze is going to impact your finances and your education!

1. You're saving money

The tuition freeze means that tuition costs stay at the same levels they were in the 2014-15 academic year, when the freeze was first announced. For undergraduate students in most programs, that's $532.08 per three-credit course, or $2660.40 per semester with a full course load. Prior to the tuition freeze, tuition increased each year by Alberta's Consumer Price Index, which averaged 1.2% per year from 2014 until now. Had tuition rates increased by CPI, they would currently be $2757 per term, increasing to $2790 per term next year. A student who began their degree in 2015 and graduates in 2019 in the Faculty of Arts or Faculty of Science will have saved $578 in tuition costs alone compared to what they would have spent had tuition increased by CPI annually.

2. You won't have to pay additional fees

It's not just tuition that's staying the same. The freeze also applies to mandatory non-instructional fees (MNIFs) and market modifiers assessed by the University of Alberta. MNIFs are currently set at $845 per year, as they were in 2016. The Government of Alberta estimates that between tuition and MNIFs, the tuition freeze means a student beginning their degree in 2018 in a program with average tuition and fees will save approximately $1500 over the course of their degree.

3. Classroom experience shouldn't be impacted

While tuition isn't going up, the cost of delivering a university education increases annually due to increases in salaries, benefits, and in the costs of services, utilities and maintenance on campus. For universities, a tuition freeze can mean that costs increase while their revenues stay the same, resulting in cuts to programs and services on campus. The University of Alberta estimates that its costs increase by approximately 3% annually. Fortunately for all of us, the government is providing $17 million in "backfill" funding to post-secondary instutions across the province in order to cover the costs of inflation. This should reduce the necessity for cuts.

4. The freeze doesn't apply to international students

Unfortunately, the tuition and fees freeze only applies to domestic students. Students who pay international tuition rates are likely to see continued increases to their tuition, since the province only regulates tuition for domestic students. Since tuition was frozen back in 2014, international students at the University of Alberta have experienced a 7% increase in their costs, compared to a rise in CPI of only 3%. If the University increases the international tuition rate by the Academic Price Index (API) again this year, international students could be paying an additional $630 in tuition fees in 2018-19.