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Students say TRU underfunded

Thompson Rivers University not getting enough money from province: students union
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TRU students union representatives Leif Douglass (l) and Cole Hickson talk to Clearwater town council recently about under-funding of the university.

Thompson Rivers University receives some of the lowest funding per student in the province, according to two representatives of the TRU students union.

Speaking at a town council meeting held earlier this month, TRUSU external vice-president Cole Hickson and campaigns coordinator Leif Douglass said the university receives, on average, $1,500 less in per-student funding than other post-secondary institutions in B.C.

READ MORE: Funding data from TRU

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That means the Kamloops-based university ranks 20th out of 25 universities and colleges in this province on a per-student basis.

“We’re asking that the government re-evaluate how TRU funded,” they said, and asked town council for support.

With more than 8,000 full-time students attending TRU, the shortfall represents more than $80 million of underfunding during the last five years alone, they said.

Part of the problem appears to be that the provincial government provides funding based on targets for each institution, rather than actual utilization rates.

TRU has a utilization rate of over 100 per cent while other institutions fell well below this.

One outcome is that students at Thompson Rivers must cover more of the university’s operating costs out of user fees.

At TRU, user fees provide 44 per cent of the university’s revenues while government funding brings in 46 per cent.

At University of Northern British Columbia, in comparison, user fees provide 25 per cent of revenue while government funding brings in 64 per cent.

Underfunding at TRU affects the whole community, they pointed out.

The university is the fourth biggest employer in Kamloops and area.

The students union representatives’ request seemed to get a positive response from the town council members.

Councillor Barry Banford said it was a rural issue, as many students from the Interior cannot afford to attend universities in the Lower Mainland due to the cost of lodging and travel.

Shelley Sim, who is the president of Southern Interior Local Government Association this year, said she would bring it up with the association’s executive.

Ken Kjenstad suggested the issue be taken to the school boards and high schools that TRU gets its students from.

Banford and Kjenstad noted that Clearwater no longer has a local coordinator to look after TRU courses in the community. They felt that the lack of funding might be part of the explanation.

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Graph shows that the actual per student funding at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is far below the average for B.C. Highest funding per student is going to Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek while Justice Institute of BC is getting the lowest.