April 29, 2005

Alberta's Oil Gains Lift Higher-Education Spending

By KAREN BIRCHARD

In higher education, budget news is often bad news.

But not in the energy-rich Canadian province of Alberta, where an oil windfall has led to a 13.4-percent increase in higher-education spending in the provincial budget announced this month. It includes $72-million (in U.S. dollars) to add 15,000 more student slots over the next three years; an 18-percent increase for operating budgets during the same period; and an initial payment of $200-million toward a $2.4-billion higher-education