Information Note University financing

Transcription

1 Information Note University financing Quebec Federation of University Students

2 Reminder Following the April 7, 2014 general election, the newly elected government will submit a new Quebec budget for During the pre-budgetary consultations, the FEUQ met with the Minister of Finance's team to discuss, particularly, a reinvestment in higher education. During the May 7, 2014 meeting, the Minister's cabinet members and public functionaries explained that education would not be subject to cuts from the amounts (unlike the other budgetary envelopes). We should nevertheless expect a decrease in the reinvestment promised by the previous government at the Summit on Higher Education in February Budget The budget was submitted on June 5, During the media and social group closed session, the FEUQ was present to analyze the minister's propositions for higher education. Note that this budget was submitted with the ministries' budgetary credits. The biggest question mark is clearly explained by the President of the Treasury Council. Explaining his approach to the budget, he suggested a "questioning of some spending initiatives" (Treasury Council, 2014B, p. 16). It was further explained that there would be a "revision of the previous government's promises made during the [...] Summit on higher education" (Treasury Council, 2014B, p. 16). First, below is a current overview of higher education funding from the Quebec government, as described in the documents submitted for the budget. Table 1: Funding from the Government of Quebec Universities (in $ thousands) (author's calculations) Charest government $ 2,960,000 $ 3,008,000 $ 3,044,000 $ 3,165,000 Government Marois $ 2,976,378 $ 3,074,687 $ 3,337,000 Government Couillard $ 3,216,420 Sources: (Treasury Board, 2012a, p 100, 2012b, p 106; Treasury Board, 2014A, 119, Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, p 5;. Ministry of Finance, 2011, p 15, 2014, p..b.48) As can be seen, the portrait of university funding has changed in the last four years. In particular, note the total absence of the reinvestments that were agreed to at the Summit on Higher Education for the current financial year, which works out to a decrease of $120 million from the previous government's funding projections for This can have a significant impact on universities' abilities to meet their goals, particularly for teaching quality, but also for student services. Note d information 2

3 Unlike the message conveyed by some universities, (Pion, 2014), these are not further cuts, but rather a re-evaluation of the previous government's promises. We can also note that the amount of government funding for universities is higher than that of the Charest government. This is, however, partly due to the cancellation of the 2012 tuition fee hike, as the Charest government planned on increasing students contribution to university financing. In any case, the amounts put forth by universities (Pion, 2014) do not seem credible in light of the following numbers. Table 2: Student contribution to universities (in thousands of $) (author's calculations) Charest government $ 750,000 $ 799,000 $ 854,000 $ 902,000 Government Marois $ 750,000 $ 769,500 $ 792,585 Government Couillard $ 792,585 Source: (Ministry of Finance, 2011, p 15.) Table 2 shows the evolution of the student contribution to universities. For the last two governments, the calculations do not take into account the expected increase in student enrolment, and the indexation rate for was estimated at 3% compared to Figure 1: Forecast of Québec University Funding from the Government and from students for (Dark Government funding, Light Student contribution) For the current financial year ( ), we arrive at a total of $4.009 billion (including government funding and student contributions) with the current government, though it would have been $4.129 billion with the previous government, and $4.067 billion with the Charest government. There has indeed been a substantial decrease from the forecasts following the Summit on Higher Education and the budget submitted in June This decline in financing is nevertheless much lower when compared with the funding foreseen by the Charest government in the budget, a $58 million decrease. This cannot affect universities as they explained in the media over the previous months. Note d information 3

4 Conclusion As explained by the Finance Minister, the budget serves as a transitional budget before a study on social programs and the Québec tax system. The two commissions will take place this fall, and will draw their conclusion for the government's budget. In this respect, the FEUQ must now begin discussions with politicians to make sure the funding promised at the Summit on Higher Education sees the light of day and refinance the university network. But this reinvestment should not become a blank check for university administrations. In this sense, it is more than necessary to put into function the National Council of Universities, to operationalize it, and to work a new university financing policy. Bibliography Conseil du Trésor. (2014a). Budget de dépenses , Crédits des ministères et organismes. Québec: Quebec Government. Accessed at Conseil du Trésor. (2014b). Rigueur et responsabilité dans la gestion des dépenses. Québec: Quebec Government. Accessed at Conseil du Trésor. (2012a). Budget de dépenses , Volume II, Crédits des ministères et organismes. Québec: Quebec Government. Accessed at tion_2012/budget_depenses_2012_2013_volii.pdf Conseil du Trésor. (2012b). Budget de dépenses , Crédits des ministères et organismes. Québec: Quebec Government. Accessed at Ministère de l Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie. (2013). Sommet sur l enseignement supérieur, Assurer l évolution du financement des établissements universitaires en tenant compte de la capacité de payer des Québécois et des Québécoises. Quebec Government. Accessed at ments/sommet/fascicule_3_-_financement.pdf Ministère des Finances. (2011). Budget : Un plan de financement des universités équitable et équilibré. Québec: Quebec Government. Accessed at Note d information 4

5 Ministère des Finances. (2014). Budget , Plan budgétaire. Québec: Quebec Government. Accessed at Pion, I. (2014, 19 juin). Crise financière à l Université de Sherbrooke. La Tribune. Sherbrooke. Accessed at Note d information 5