Goal
The University of Saskatchewan is committed to consulting with students about tuition and mandatory fees. Tuition rates are set following five key principles outlined in the university policy. With guidance from student leaders, USask seeks consultation opportunities in ways that support and encourage good timing and accessibility, transparency, inclusiveness and participation. The university is committed to consulting with students and student leadership in a transparent and holistic manner, in accordance with the Tuition Consultation Policy.
Tuition is used to generate revenue – ensuring we provide high-value programs and enhancements to programs and services for USask students. Through the tuition consultation process, USask seeks feedback on the quality of education, the student experience and the supports that are being provided. It is also desirable to hear from students about where incremental investments should be made when new financial resources become available for investment.
Enhancing Tuition Consultation with Students
In the spring of 2021, a working group of administrative and student leaders came together and developed a series of recommendations to build a robust, enhanced, engaged, and transparent annual tuition consultation process at USask.
Tuition Consultation Working Group Recommendations
Tuition Consultation Working Group - Roadmap
A pivotal action to enhance tuition consultation was the launch of a fall survey to collect student input on investments and disinvestments that are viewed to impact education quality, student supports, and student experience. A summary of responses to the most recent survey, held in the fall of 2023, is available here.
Tuition Planning and USask Finances
A further action proposed by the Tuition Consultation Working Group led to the development of a series of information modules designed to provide students with the “101” basics on the university’s finances, budgeting and resource allocation and the connections to tuition.
USask is funded from many sources and uses these sources entirely to support its research and teaching activities, including tuition. Part of every dollar of tuition goes to finance every one of many line items, but tuition is not enough to finance any one of them. Instead, all the university’s revenues are collected and then doled out for the necessary expenses.
Here are some quick financial facts about USask and some key sources of information around USask tuition to get you started: