HALIFAX--Halifax-Statistics Canada's annual survey on tuition fees shows that, yet again, students in Nova Scotia will pay the highest fees in the country. On average undergraduate students in Nova Scotia will pay $6,764 in tuition and ancillary fees for the 2006–2007 academic year, with students from out of province seeing even higher fees.

"This survey shows that after years of huge tuition fee increases, students and their families need more than the tuition fee freeze and rebate put forward by the provincial government," says Kaley Kennedy, Nova Scotia representative of the Canadian Federation of Students.

Released today, the Statistics Canada survey shows that although tuition fees in Nova Scotia have gone down on average by over 8%, "compulsory fees" have seen a 26% increase and Nova Scotia is now one of only two provinces to include "a different fee for resident and non-resident students."

"The policies of the current government clearly show that it believes some students in Nova Scotia deserve tuition fee relief, and others do not," continued Kennedy, "With the continued declines in enrolments across the province, Nova Scotia is in no position to be rolling up the welcome mat to out of province students."

A report earlier this by the Maritimes Provinces Higher Education Commission found that the number of students from Nova Scotia attending university in Newfoundland has increased over 800% since 1999, when the government of Newfoundland and Labrador froze and began reducing tuition fees. This year, students in Newfoundland will once again benefit from a freeze and pay, on average, less than half of what students in Nova Scotia will pay.