N.B. universities to get 4-year funding deal

New Brunswick’s public universities will move to a four-year funding model, the province announced on Friday. Although the plan is still in development, Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Martine Coloumbe says the plan will allow universities to communicate a long term tuition schedule. "This commitment to develop a four-year funding model will provide public universities with a predictable funding base to plan their activities over a longer period of time," he said. Dennis Cochrane, president of St Thomas University, says he wants to see a broader arrangement reached with the government that goes beyond funding models. "I think everyone recognizes there are so many things in the post-secondary education area that are changing," he told CBC. Details for the plan will be released with the budget in March.