When it comes to how Canadian universities are funded, something has to give. It is simply not sustainable for governments to reduce or hold constant their contributions to university operating budgets while tightly controlling how much tuition may be charged to students: for years now, permissible tuition increases have fallen below increases in operating costs.

This was an issue that was recently addressed by the Alberta government’s Expert Panel on Post-Secondary Institution Funding and Alberta’s Competitiveness, a five-member panel that included myself and was chaired by Jack Mintz.

The panel consulted widely among stakeholders, undertook research, in-province and comparative, and produced a 93-page written report in September, following nine months of work. Though directed to the

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