Students unite province-wide to challenge cuts to low-income grants

News Staff - Thu Aug 04, 2022

An unannounced cut to a provincial grant for low-income students has provoked serious questions. The University of Alberta Students' Union (UASU) calls on the government to live up to its Alberta 2030 commitment to expand availability of needs-based grants rather than reducing them.

Advanced Education has cut the Alberta Student Grant for Full Time Students (ASG-FT) by 33%, meaning a loss of up to $1000 in grant funding for some undergraduates in one-year and transfer programs, as well as some apprenticeship and graduate students.

"This grant has complex eligibility requirements, so we have no way to know how many students were impacted," said UASU President Abner Monteiro. "But Alberta's student grant funding is notoriously stingy. In last year's Alberta 2030 plan, this government pledged to address that shortfall, not make it worse."

"There are well-established channels for the government to keep student representatives informed," said VP (External) Christian Fotang. "We need to know why those channels weren't used: why we had to learn about this cut from individual students' financial aid letters. The government needs to be honest with us as a matter of basic respect."

The UASU stands alongside the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS), the Graduate Students' Association of the University of Alberta (ab-GPAC), and the University of Calgary Students’ Union, to demand more transparency and increased access to non-repayable grants for all students from the Government of Alberta in this joint letter.

About the University of Alberta Students’ Union

The UASU is the official representative of 35,000 undergraduate students at the University of Alberta. It advocates for students’ needs and priorities to the University of Alberta and at all levels of government.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Ari Campbell

External Relations Specialist

University of Alberta Students’ Union

ari.campbell@su.ualberta.ca

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