Friday, April 02, 2004
 

Contact: Dave Stephen
Community Relations and Development
University College of the Fraser Valley
Phone: 604-557-4055
Email: dave.stephen@ucfv.ca

UCFV Board approves 2004/05 budget and tuition

The University College of the Fraser Valley Board of Governors has approved the operating budget for 2004/05. Highlights of the budget include improved access for students with an additional 2,100 spaces in high-demand courses and a tuition increase of 9.9 percent.

UCFV’s operating budget for 2004/05 will be $56.6 million, an increase of $2.6 over last year.

President Skip Bassford says the challenge with this year’s budget was not only to deal with increasing costs and maintain the high quality of education at UCFV, but also to find ways to improve and significantly increase access for students.

“We are pleased to report that we have been able to accomplish this, thanks to an increase in funding from the provincial government combined with some internal cuts to administration costs,” says Bassford.

Tuition for degree-level courses at UCFV will increase to $109.90 per credit from $100. This means that a full-time degree student will be paying $3,297 tuition for a typical full load of 10 three-credit courses.

“Tuition at UCFV still compares extremely favourably with costs at other University Colleges in the province. There is only one that is more affordable than UCFV, and that’s by only $97 a year,” says Bassford.

“When you compare the cost of studying at UCFV with the cost at other universities, the difference is substantial. UBC is increasing its tuition by 16 percent this year, to $4,681 for a full course load. That’s nearly $1,400 more than a degree student would pay at UCFV,” says Bassford.

In addition to the 2,100 new spaces in high-demand first- and second-year courses, UCFV is also increasing student services.

“UCFV recognizes that the tuition increase this year will cause difficulties for some students, so we have increased the funding to work study and financial aid by 11.6 percent, which will put some money back in the hands of students,” says Bassford.

“Our main goals are to provide the best education possible, and to make UCFV as accessible as it can be. It wasn’t easy, but we feel we have made a significant step with this year’s budget,’ says Bassford.

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