Call for lifting tuition caps at Quebec universities

A high-profile group of former politicians, student leaders and university executives have signed a pact urging the Quebec government to lift the tuition freeze at provincial institutions and maintain the current level of public funding. Tuition levels in Quebec are far below the national average. Universities have repeatedly called for lifting the tuition freeze as it has seriously hampered the ability of institutions to fund operations. The 16 signatories include former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, Michel Audet, former Finance minister, Robert Lacroix, former Univ of Montreal rector and Pierre Fortin, professor emeritus at the Univ of Quebec at Montreal. Higher fees would provide universities with significantly more income that could be redeployed towards both teaching and research. The pact also calls for giving universities the freedom to set tuition levels and to differentiate according to level and field of study and to use 30% of resulting new revenue for improving access through enhanced student aid....