Laurentian students campaign for better post-secondary funding

A student group at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont., is petitioning the provincial government to improve post-secondary education fundingin the wake of a new tuition increase.

Students at the school are paying up to three per cent more for their spring courses this year.

The vice president of the Laurentian Association of Mature and Part-time Students told CBCuniversities are downloading more costs onto students because they're not given enough support.

"We could, I guess, pick apart the [university's] budget and look at administrators and say, 'you're getting paid too much' or 'there's no reason for this function or not,' but the bottom line is really that the university is not being properly funded," said Theresa Rost, whose grouphas held campaigns to drop university fees in the past.

The Ontario government recently allowed universities and colleges to hike tuition by three per cent per year for the next two years.

They have little choice but to charge it, Rostsaid.

"They're going to charge it because there's less funding coming in from the provincial government.So they're just provincially assisted, not provincially funded any more, and there's a big difference," she added.