St. Thomas University, Fredericton, has hiked its annual tuition fees by $434 for in-state students effective from next year, even after a $150 cap on tuition was introduced in the 2013-14 budget.
The annual fee of a Bachelor of Arts degree at the university now is priced at $5,379, which is the lowest in New Brunswick
The university has also raised tuition for international students by $150.
"Our ongoing challenge will be to maintain excellence in education in light of a freeze in the operating grant and our comparatively low tuition," Dawn Russell, the president of St. Thomas University, said. "This creates a unique circumstance as we attempt to balance rising costs and constrained revenues while delivering on our high standards of quality."
Post-Secondary Education Minister Danny Soucy said that he was unhappy with St.Thomas for not abiding by the rules. He said that the cap is not law, so he needed to analyze whether any legal action can be taken.
Russell said that they had no other option but to hike the tuition in order to increase the taxes and avoid a deficit.
Russell said that she would be shocked and saddened if the government decides to penalize the university, which already has the lowest provincial grant and tuition, even after the fee hike. She said that the government might reduce the university's grant as punishment for violating the government's rule.
The university's primary sources of revenue are the provincial grant, tuition fees, endowments, scholarships and bursaries.
Meanwhile, the government also froze funding for public universities at $13.5 million in this year's budget. Finance Minister Blaine Higgs said that the universities should exercise operational efficiencies.
The university had to resort to an early retirement program and making some compromises in administrative operations.
