Carleton’s Board of Governors has approved the planning framework for next year’s 2015-16 operating budget at a meeting Dec. 2.
Included in the framework is a 3.3 per cent tuition increase for both domestic and international students, the largest increase allowed by the Ontario government.
“Next year at this time, we’ll know what our undergraduate enrolment is, and maybe we’ll know what the government’s thinking about the tuition fee framework. This is a living document and just a snapshot at this particular time,” said Duncan Watt, Carleton’s vice-president (finance and administration).
The 2015-16 operating budget is expected to be around $392 million.
Of that money, $213 million is expected to come from tuition, along with $158 million from the government, and $21 million coming from various other sources.
Some of the expenses in the proposed budget include $213 million in salaries, $29 million in student aid, and $43 million in maintenance. The proposed budget also includes $9 million for utilities and $5 million for library acquisitions.
“On tuition, which is one of the big inputs, we’re not satisfied with assuming steady increases forever,” Watt said.
Carleton made its enrolment goal for this year, but is expecting a decrease in students in the coming years, which will have an impact on the budget.
The impending enrolment gap was discussed at both the Senate and Board of Governors meetings last week.
Since enrolment is expected to decrease over the coming years based on available data from the provincial ministry of education, Watt said tuition rates have to increase or the university could possibly risk going into deficit.
“Carleton has been increasing market share, but there’s just less students,” said Suzanne Blanchard, associate vice-president (students and enrolment). “We’ll have to be very strong in terms of conversion and attracting new populations.”
Carleton’s strategies for attracting students are currently based on creating new programs, recruiting internationally and making campus aesthetically pleasing and friendly, according to Blanchard.
