One hundred and thirty-four students graduated from degree, diploma and certificate programs through Aurora College in 2022-23. That was a rebound from 83 grads a year earlier.
Enrolment climbed, thanks to the number of part-time students jumping to 1,335 in 2022-23, up from 1,000 the previous year. The number of full-timers fell to 384 from 443 in 2021-22.
By campus, there were more students at Aurora in Inuvik (42.5 per cent), Thebacha in Fort Smith (18.1 per cent) and at the various community learning centres around the territory (52.1 per cent). However, enrolment at Yellowknife's North Slave campus fell by 20.2 per cent.
By program, enrolment rose in continuing education, arts and science, education, health and human services and in trades, apprenticeship and industrial training. But there were fewer students involved in the developmental studies and business and leadership programs.
Financial position
The GNWT has $32.9 million set aside for Aurora College base funding in 2024-25, down from $34.5 million in 2023-24. An estimated $21.1 million will to go student and educational services, $8.6 million is needed for administration and $2.8 million will be put toward research.
The amount designated for the college's transformation process into a polytechnic university is $581,000 in 2024-25, down from $2.8 million in 2023-24.
Aurora College had $60.6 million in revenue in 2023. Expenditures totalled approximately $61.5 million, leaving an annual deficit of $887,000. Nevertheless, an $11.5 million accumulated surplus remained due to finances leftover from past years.
The bulk of the college's funding came from the territorial government (79.1 per cent) in 2022-23 while the Government of Canada contributed 6.7 per cent. Tuition only made up 3.8 per cent of revenue.
The college's largest single expenditure in 2022-23 was education and training, which consumed 34.9 per cent of the institution's budget. Next came student services (19.2 per cent), pooled services (16.2 per cent), community and extensions (15.5 per cent), Aurora Research Institute (10.5 per cent) and financial and accounting services (3.2 per cent).
Tuition rising
In March, the college announced that it will be raising tuition in 2024-25. Most programs will increase to $2,520 per term from $1,800 and courses will jump to $510 apiece from $365.
This marks the first hike in fees since 2018-19.
Research dips
Aurora Research Institute benefitted from $2.6 million in new research funding in 2022-23. There were 98 research licences issued in 2023, a steep reduction from 227 in 2022. The Inuvialuit region once again led the way, followed by the Gwich'in region. Physical sciences comprised the largest single category of licences while social sciences made up the second-largest group.
Fewer staff
There was a substantial reduction in the number of staff year over year. There were 249 college employees in 2022-23, down from 298 in 2021-22, according to the college's annual report. Thirty-five per cent of staff were Indigenous, up from 31.2 per cent a year prior. Support and administration accounted for 142 positions, 85 were faculty members, 14 were full-time students and eight were senior managers.
Polytechnic goals
On its transformation tracking web page, Aurora College shows 68 objectives as completed, seven in progress and five not yet started (as of May 2). Six of the remaining goals are expected to be complete this year, two next year and one in 2026.
However, in late May, Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse expressed concern over comments from the college's president and board chair that "they are off-track from the established timeline, and are not expecting to be able to deliver the NWT a renewed polytechnic university in May 2025 as planned. They also shared that they felt the project has been underfunded, and is not receiving the required support to achieve transition goals."
Someone who will be shouldering that burden is Dr. Angela James, who was announced as the successor to college president Dr. Glenda Vardy Dell in February. The transition is effective as of Aug. 1. James's term is for five years.
Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning
There was $5 million in funding announced in April's federal budget that will benefit Yellowknife’s Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning.
Dechinta is an Indigenous, land-based initiative that provides accredited post-secondary education and research experiences in the North.
The school previously received federal funding through the Department of Northern Affairs’ Arctic and Northern Policy Framework, but the five-year term of that agreement expired on March 31, which made the newly-announced financial support extremely important.
Enrollment for Dechinta’s summer 2024 programming has seen close to 30 students set to participate in accredited courses.
College Nordique
The NWT’s French-based post-secondary institution, College Nordique, had more than 500 registrations in 2022-23, including language classes in French, Tlicho, Spanish, English for newcomers and a new offering for early childhood educators. That’s up from 410 registrations in 2021-22.
The college is developing partnerships with post-secondary institutions such as the Université de l’Ontario français and the Université de Hearst, both based in Ontario. The institution is also collaborating with the Intercultural Centre NWT, which aids immigrants; the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Tlicho Government and the GNWT, among others.