Tuition freeze applauded by student groups

Student groups are applauding the proposed investments in postsecondary education contained in the Alberta government's Bill 3.

The bill freezes tuition for two years and rolls back increases tied to the market that were introduced last December.

• Alberta NDP reverses cuts to health care and education, freezes tuition

"This is just a fantastic day," says Levi Nilson, the president of the University of Calgary student union."It's a great day for students."

Nilson says the rising price tag for post secondary education in Alberta was causing financial pain for students and their families.

"It's asking for more money from your parents,it's asking for more money from private lines of credit and those sorts of things, so it's a scary situation."

Erik Queenan,president of the students' associationat Mount Royal University, agrees.

"We hear students who are taking four or five classes a semester and working 20 or 25 hours a week. They're living on their own and they're really just like every penny is going somewhere," he said.

"They were already having a difficult time attending post secondary and affording post secondary, and these increases were just making it harder for them."

In addition to holding the line on tuition, Bill 3 proposes$624 million in spending to reverse cuts to health care andeducation proposed by the former government.