UWI, St Augustine says tuition fees will not be increased

(CMC)— The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus, says that in keeping with a recommendation from the government of the twin-island republic, tuition fees will not be increased for the September semester.

“The Campus will be required to operate with considerable reduction to its finances and, hopefully, with minimal disruption. The documentation requested by the government, in preparation for a discussion for an increase as of academic year 2023/2024, is actively in progress as the Campus has been working to improve its operational efficiencies in the past few years and will continue to do so,” the UWI said.

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Earlier this week, the government said that it would not support the proposed increase in tuition fees submitted by The UWI St Augustine Campus to UWI Council for programmes covered under Campus Grants Funding.

In a statement on Friday, the UWI’s Campus Executive Management team said that it recognises and empathises with concerns expressed, especially as it relates to students and prospective students.

“It was for this reason that the decisions to propose fee increases was made with careful consideration of the impact to all involved.”

The statement added that “higher enrollment was a major cause for increased costs.

According to the UWI, over the last six years, “The Campus has reduced its actual operating expenditure for Campus Grants programmes by $115 million (net of provisioning). Overall staff costs have essentially remained unchanged, despite increased cost due to settlement of union agreements. In fact, the Campus has successfully operated below budget for the past five years and has been commended year on year by technocrats at the Ministries of Education and Finance for its good fiscal management.”

In a statement earlier this week, the government, in rejecting a proposal from the St Augustine campus, suggested that the regional tertiary institution campus find other ways to address financial shortfalls including a review of the courses offered.