The number of Alberta post-secondary students relying on provincial loans is ballooning

The Alberta government has doubled the amount of money it allocates for student loans in the last five years as more students rely on borrowing to attend post-secondary programs.

New financial records show the government spent $279 million more than expected on student loans during the last two years to keep up with the demand. And Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney says loans to private career colleges have surged.

The cost overruns should be a wake-up call to the government that post-secondary students are grappling with an affordability crisis, says Chris Beasley, chair of the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS).

"Students have been telling this government that the need is there, that the need is prominent, and that we're looking for more affordability measures," he said in a Monday interview.

Between the 2018-19 school year and 2022-23, the number of students attending publicly funded Alberta post-secondary institutions climbed about two per cent, to 274,459 part- and full-time students, according to provincial data.

The Alberta Association of Career Colleges website says another 26,500 students were enrolled in the private institutions last year.

During that same five-year span, the number of students receiving a provincial student loan jumped 47 per cent to 124,482 students, according to numbers provided by the advanced education ministry.

New government spending estimates for the fiscal year finishing March 31, 2024, and requiring MLA approval, show the province needed an extra $201 million this year for student loans, and another $77.8 million to meet unexpected demand from students last year.

Provincial loans to students in 2023-24 now tally $1.26 billion. In 2018-19, that number was $638 million.

Advanced Education Minister Sawhney says her department is now investigating some "integrity issues" after seeing 52 per cent of the money loaned out this year going to students enrolled in private career colleges.

Sawhney said it was a "dramatic increase" from the previous year, when about a third of the loan money was going to students in private college programs.

"When you see an increase like that, you have to question it," she told reporters at the legislature on Monday. "You have to ask why."

Although the government has capped most tuition increases at two per cent per year, specialized programs can ask for exemptions, and international student tuition isn't included in the cap.

Statistics Canada pegged the average post-secondary tuition in Alberta at $7,586 last year, which was higher than the national average and 33 per cent higher than four years earlier in the province.