Undergrad tuition up five per cent this academic year, more than triple inflation

BUSINESS

Undergrad tuition up five per cent this academic year, more than triple inflation

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, September 12, 2012 10:10AM EDT

Ontario, tuition, costs, University of Toronto

Students protest Ontario tuition costs at the University of Toronto campus in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press)

Text:

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says tuition fees for full-time students in undergraduate programs are five per cent higher for the academic year starting this fall than they were last year.

That comes on top of a 4.3 per cent increase for the 2011-2012 school year.

In comparison, inflation was 1.3 per cent between July 2011 and July 2012.

The agency says the average tuition bill this year is $5,581, compared with $5,313 a year earlier.

Tuition fees rose in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, where they have been frozen since 2003-2004.

Undergrads in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec continued to have the lowest average fees, while Ontario students paid the highest tuition in the country.