​Low-Income New Brunswick Students Are Getting Free Tuition This Year

New Brunswick students whose families make under $60,000 will be getting free tuition next semester thanks to an increase in government grant funding.

Premier Brian Gallant and Post-Secondary Education Minister Francine Landry broke the news Thursday morning at University of New Brunswick. "We are doing this so university and college tuition can be free for low income and many middle class New Brunswick families," Gallant told reporters. "As New Brunswickers, this is what we do: we help those who need it most." Starting in the fall 2016 semester, the province will be increasing its non-repayable grants to cover the gap between federal and provincial funding so that students who qualify as low-income no longer have to cover the cost of tuition. According to CBC, around 7,100 students are eligible for the program—about 23 percent of all NB students who go to post-secondary both at home and in other provinces. The move comes on the heels of Ontario's announcement of free tuition for low-income students whose families make under $50,000 annually. It should be noted, however, that the cost of living in a place like Fredericton is drastically lower than a city like Toronto—estimates put the two at a whole $500-600 difference in rent per month for a single bedroom apartment in the core of each city. Landry says the province's hope is that the change to funding will push more students to study at home rather than travel abroad. "We have significant demographic challenges that will continue to affect enrollment at our universities and colleges," Landry told the CBC. "This program will incentivise New Brunswickers to study here at home, thus helping our publicly funded universities and colleges." Follow Jake Kivanç on Twitter.