A new report from BC Policy Solutions—a non-partisan research institute—is renewing debate over the future of post-secondary education in British Columbia, warning that chronic underfunding and rising reliance on tuition revenue are placing the sector under sustained financial pressure.
Released in June and led by policy researcher Véronique Sioufi, the report argues that decades of shifting costs from government funding to student-paid tuition have left public institutions increasingly unstable. It describes the system as one shaped by “marketization,” where operating budgets are tied more closely to enrollment and international tuition than core public investment.
The report finds that nearly 19 of 25 public post-secondary institutions are projecting deficits, alongside widespread program reductions, staffing cuts, and service impacts across the province. It argues that these pressures are structural rather than temporary and warns that the current funding model is no longer sufficient to sustain access or quality.
Among its key recommendations is a call to restore public funding to approximately 75 percent of institutional operating costs. It also proposes stronger tuition regulation, including limits on increases and a shift in how post-secondary education is treated within provincial policy, framing it as essential public infrastructure similar to health care or K–12 education.
For student advocates, the findings reflect issues they say they have been building for years across campuses.
British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) chairperson Debi Herrera Lira says that the financial strain outlined in the report is already visible in students’ day-to-day experiences. (The BCFS was involved in supporting the report).
“This report, it basically highlights what students have been echoing for decades, that the problems that we experience today, such as underfunding, they have been occurring since the 1990s,” says Herrera Lira. “And while the federal government accelerated the problem when they restricted international student enrollment, they actually didn’t create it.”
She adds that students are directly feeling the effects of institutional cuts through reduced course availability, longer completion timelines, and shrinking campus supports.
“We have long identified that relying on international student fees should have never been the provincial government’s replacement for public funding. So, what we’re seeing today at post-secondary institutions is that they’re experiencing devastating financial deficits, and that has caused around the province, as of today, over 210 programs to be cut, suspended, or paused, over 1,300 workers to be laid off, and 13 rural campuses to close,” says Herrera Lira. “And this is why this report is nice to see additional research supporting our asks and the advocacy work that students have done for decades.”
Herrera Lira argues that without renewed public investment, the burden of maintaining the system continues to shift onto students through higher tuition and increased debt.
Vancouver Community College Faculty Association (VCCFA) president Frank Cosco says that faculty are seeing similar pressures inside institutions as staffing and program stability come under strain. (The VCCFA provided funding for the report.)
“[The provincial government] is essentially privatizing post-secondary, and it’s time to stop and give this whole project a rethink,” says Cosco. “They shouldn’t be putting all the weight on students and their families to get this post-secondary training, which is essential for jobs.”
Cosco says that institutions are being asked to do more with fewer resources, which he argues is affecting working conditions for staff and learning conditions for students.
“We’ve been concerned for a number of years about the provincial government not funding post-secondary properly,” he says. “We’ve been calling for a real commission, a real study of post-secondary, more like where they go around the province and invite input from community groups, students, faculty, anyone concerned about post-secondary, and really rethink how post-secondary is funded because they’re putting too much stress on tuition fees.”
The report is being released ahead of the results of Don Avison’s post-secondary review. While the government now has that review, it won’t be released to the public until later this year (a Freedom of Information request by Nexus to get the results of that review was declined.)
That review follows earlier work completed by Avison in 2023, which was released publicly through a Freedom of Information request in late 2025. The 2023 review included recommendations for increased government support, although critics say many of those proposals were not fully acted on.
Faculty and student groups have raised concerns that efforts to streamline programming could lead to reduced regional access and consolidation of offerings, particularly in smaller communities. Cosco says these concerns reflect broader questions about how post-secondary education is structured across the province.
“Post-secondary should be considered a strategic infrastructure project, you know, but a human one. We’re investing in people and education and transferring knowledge and skills,” he says.
Both student and faculty representatives say demand for post-secondary education remains strong, even as institutions face financial constraints. The BC Policy Solutions report concludes that without meaningful changes to funding structures, the province risks continued erosion of program availability, service quality, and equitable access across regions. Herrera Lira warns that policy responses focused on restructuring rather than funding increases the risk of shifting costs further onto students.
“In the report, one of the recommendations is to strengthen the public sector to better support student access to education and restore public funding to at least 75 percent of institutional operating budgets, while also maintaining the two-percent cap on domestic tuition-fee increases,” she says. “For [post-secondary education] to be truly a public good, we need to make sure that education is accessible and affordable for everyone. And, you know, the provincial government needs to ease the financial burden on students and their families by increasing public funding and protecting student affordability.”