The University of Calgary is facing a financial crisis as its enrollment number of international students was dramatically reduced. The enrollment is expected to leave an $11 million loss on tuition fees in the current year.
According to CBC News, U of C international student enrollment decreased by nearly 9%, from 6,998 students last fall to 6,394 this year. International students normally pay two to three times more in tuition than domestic students and are seen as an important revenue source for universities in Canada.
The drop is likely to have longer-term financial implications since these students typically attend multi-year programs.
Broader Implications
Ermia Rezaei-Afsah, president of the University of Calgary Students’ Union, said the impact will have far-reaching impacts beyond what happens on campus. “It’s going to impact not only the quality of our scholarship but the future of Alberta and the opportunities available to students in this province,” he said.
Reduced international enrollment also threatens research and innovation, with fewer dollars potentially meaning fewer groundbreaking projects. “There’s just less money in the system, resulting in less innovation and fewer research advancements coming out of our institutions across Canada,” Rezaei-Afsah said.
Federal Policy Changes Impacting Enrollment
The decline in enrollment comes as the federal government has just capped study permits. The new policy, announced in September, cuts the annual target for study permits from 485,000 to 437,000 for 2025 and 2026. Immigration Minister Marc Miller said this could mean 300,000 fewer study permits over the next three years, a prospect that alarms universities across Canada.
The University of Calgary characterized these federal measures as a source of significant disruption. “The rapid, across-the-board, and continued federal policy changes, along with geopolitical circumstances, are affecting enrolment,” the university said in a statement.
Economic Competitiveness at Risk
Gabriel Miller, president of Universities Canada, spoke to the dangers of such policies. “Canada’s capacity to attract the best and brightest in the world is shrinking – the best and brightest that we need in areas from artificial intelligence to health,” he said. “When we lose researchers, we lose economic competitiveness,” Miller said.
Alberta’s Response and Future Tuition Increases
The Alberta government realizes that it will have a challenge to deal with and is working with all its post-secondary institutions to calculate the financial implications, and arguing for more federal funding as well.
In response to the financial burden, the University of Calgary is weighing tuition increases. Tuition for domestic students may increase by 2%, while international students could face a 6% rise next year. This was after the U of C Students’ Union had warned earlier about an overdependence on tuition revenues, which had already surpassed funding from the provincial Campus Alberta grant.
Calls for Sustainable Funding
The financial struggles at U of C have once again raised demands for increased investment in post-secondary education. Rezaei-Afsah called on the Alberta government to step up, especially after the 2019 budget cuts. “The pressure to rely on international students as a funding source is unsustainable. We need the Government of Alberta to invest more in post-secondary education because we are running out of options,” he said.
Broader Impact Across Alberta
While Mount Royal University has not experienced an equivalent decline in international student numbers, it too adjusted the budget to prepare for shifts in enrollment. But U of C’s financial squeeze does underscore broader challenges facing Alberta’s higher education sector.
The situation at the University of Calgary points to how increasingly vulnerable Canadian universities are in the face of changing policy and shifting global dynamics that call for a sustainable funding model and strategic investment in education.
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