Dalhousie students to pay full-price tuition, despite three weeks of class lost
The university said it won’t offer tuition cuts for classes missed due to faculty lockout
As students return to the classroom, Dalhousie University said it won’t reduce tuition to account for class time lost due to the faculty lockout.
Dalhousie’s senate announced Sept. 22 that the university won’t offer tuition refunds or rate changes to students, despite three weeks of fall classes lost. Instead, the senate announced changes to the fall term schedule, which they said would allow the term to continue.
“We will be supporting instructors in adjusting course delivery to meet required learning outcomes, which when combined with the changes to the academic calendar will allow for completing the term and preserving students’ ability to progress in their degrees and towards graduation,” reads a statement posted to the university’s website.
“For this reason, tuition refunds or rate changes will not be offered.”
Dalhousie’s board of governors locked out almost 1,000 DFA members on Aug. 20, suspending most fall semester classes. The university board and its faculty ratified a collective agreement ending the lockout on Sept. 17. Suspended classes resumed Sept. 23.
The Dalhousie Student Union is calling for a 21 per cent tuition reduction, reflecting the three weeks of classes cut due to the lockout, roughly 21 per cent of the fall semester.
“We shouldn’t be paying for any amount of those classes that were missed,” DSU President Maren Mealey said in a Sept. 21 video on the union’s Instagram.
The DSU held a rally calling for tuition refunds on Sept. 10, while the lockout was ongoing.
“We are the people who are the most powerful in the university ecosystem,” Mealey told the Dalhousie Gazette. “Our position is unchanged. What was right a few weeks ago continues to be right now.”
Second-year kinesiology student Juneau Gealogo says he is frustrated over the loss of class time and the inability to reach professors during the lockout.
“I feel like we need a partial refund,” says Gealogo. “Students like me were wasting our time doing nothing.”
The senate confirmed that fall break will proceed as scheduled from Nov. 10 to 14, and the final day of classes was extended to Dec. 10. Exams are now scheduled to run from Dec. 11 to 21.
The Gazette requested to speak with Dalhousie officials about the university’s response to the DSU’s call for tuition refunds. Instead, media relations director Janet Bryson stated, “The Dalhousie University Senate met today [Monday, Sept. 22] and voted to approve the remaining academic dates for the fall term, including information on tuition.”
Mealey says the DSU will continue pushing for tuition refunds, encouraging students to sign the union’s open letter to Dalhousie’s board of governors and administration.
“It’s unacceptable to deprive students of the education they paid for and not compensate them for it,” she says. “We deserve to have financial compensation for our tuition.”
The DSU’s call follows precedent set at other Atlantic Canadian universities.
Acadia University offered a one-time payment of $600 for domestic students and $700 for international students after a 2022 month-long faculty strike. Memorial University refunded students 10 per cent of their tuition fees after a nearly two-week strike in 2023.
“We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to continue setting a precedent here, especially in a lockout context,” Mealey said in the Sept. 21 video.
