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| Tutition could come down by $365 in the fall. |
The provincial budget will be the final word, but it now seems certain that 蘑菇AV students will pay lower tuition in September.
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蘑菇AV President Tom Traves, an optimist in all things save political promises, about which he reserves a healthy skepticism, says all signs point to positive financial news for university students.
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The university has received confirmation from the Department of Education that the budget the department submits to cabinet for approval will include an additional $36.5-million in funding for universities. Based on the existing funding formula with the province脮s universities, 蘑菇AV would receive close to half of that sum.
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Dr. Traves said if the province comes through at that level 脨 which is the same increase the governing Tories promised during last spring脮s provincial election campaign 脨 tuition for most 蘑菇AV students will drop by $365 in the fall.
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Meanwhile, Nova Scotia脮s Finance Minister Michael Baker has been trying to dampen expectations that the provincial budget will be a good news offering. He脮s expressed concerns that reductions in federal equalization payments could lead to budget cuts or force the government to back away from, or slow down implementation of some of the promises in the Tories脮 platform. A centrepiece of that platform was the promise to reduce undergraduate tuition fees by $1,000 over four years, beginning this year.
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Federal sources have disputed the minister脮s depressed numbers, claiming Nova Scotia will receive increased funding this year in combined equalization and payments from the federal/provincial offshore oil and gas accord.
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In addition, the expected fix to the so-called 脭fiscal imbalance脮 between the federal and provincial governments should add many millions to provincial revenues when the federal budget is unveiled in March.