Responsibility and sources
The provincial government of Alberta provides monetary support to 26 post-secondary institutions. (See section: Publicly Funded Post-secondary Institutions) Although Alberta Advanced Education provides the majority of funding, post-secondary institutions raise additional funds by generating tuition and student fees; offering fee-based services; and offering non-credit and off-campus credit programming. A third source of funding comes from donations, sponsored research funding from provincial and federal agencies and private industry, and investments.
In principle the funding of post-secondary education in Alberta is a responsibility shared by students, their families and society. In a context of rising student costs, the Alberta government has set in place policies in areas such as tuition fees and financial assistance to ensure adequate levels of access and affordability.
Tuition fee policy
In order to ensure a reasonable contribution by the students to the costs of post-secondary education, the Alberta government regulates the payment of tuition fees. The tuition fee policy introduced in 1990 and amended in 1995 ensures that this direct monetary contribution does not exceed 30% of the cost of their education. This policy requires public post-secondary institutions to charge the same fee to all residents of Canada and to impose a surcharge of 100% to all foreign students. Although students now contribute proportionately more toward the costs of their post-secondary education than they did in 1994-95, societal contributions have also increased.
Financial assistance
Alberta's student loan program is structured on the shared-cost principle. Loans are awarded on the basis of student need and parental contributions. Society contributes through loan forgiveness and servicing costs. Alberta's student financial assistance program has increased student loan levels as well as the number and value of non-repayable forms of financial assistance in a context marked by the rising cost of post-secondary education.
Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan
In 2005 the Alberta Centennial Education Savings Plan (ACES) was created. This program aims to encourage parents to plan early for their children's future post-secondary education needs. ACES pays $500 into a Registered Education Savings Plan for any child born to or adopted by Alberta residents starting 1 January 2005. Additional $100 grants are available at ages 8, 11, and 14 to children enrolled in school, provided at least $100 has been contributed during the previous year.
Research funding
The Ministry of Advanced Education supports the research function of universities through base operations grants and envelope funding that finance the overall infrastructure required for research in the province. The research infrastructure includes not only physical resources, such as facilities and equipment, but also human resources, such as faculty and graduate students. In addition to the aforementioned mechanisms, a specific type of activity called sponsored research is supported externally by: a) federal research granting councils, b) non-profit, and c) industry sources. However, a significant proportion of this research is sponsored by provincial government sources as well. The allocation of resources for sponsored research is based on the experts' assessment of the qualities and potential of a particular project.