Average undergrad tuition rises to $6,373 this year, StatsCan says

The cost of post-secondary education increased by 2.8 per cent this year, rising at a slightly slower pace than what students saw in 2015.

Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the average university undergraduate will pay$6,373 in tuition costs for this school year. That's up from an average of$6,201 in the previous school year.

• Soaring tuition forcing students to work more hours
• Average tuition up to $6,191 in 2015

Costs increased in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, which included a tuition freeze in the last budget. In all other provinces, tuition rose by anywhere from 0.2 per cent in Alberta to 5.6 per cent in Nova Scotia.

Even before the freeze, students in Newfoundland and Labrador paid the lowest average tuition in the country, at $2,759 this year. At the opposite end of the spectrum, students in Ontario pay the highest tuition, on average, at$8,114.

Just as costs differ across the country, they also vary based on the field of study. The most expensive tuition in Canada this year is dentistry, with an average tuition bill of $21,012. After that comes medicine at $13,858,law at $11,385andpharmacy at $9.738, on average, this year.

All other fields haveaveragetuitionsof between$4,580 (for degrees ineducation) to $7,825 (in engineering.)

• Cost of university increasing much faster than inflation

As tuition is getting more expensive, so are all the other costs associated with higher education.

The data agency reports that additional compulsory fees for things likeathletics, student health services and student associations rose this year by 2.9 per cent to an average of$873 per student.