Neon posters and graphics for the Cut’s Suck: F!x Education movement have been posted all around campus, but what does it mean for students? Students, domestic or international, along with staff and post-secondary services, are all feeling the impacts of provincial funding cuts.

“Provincial funding for post-secondary educational institutions have gone from 70 percent to 40 percent,” Sarah Mei, a member of VIUSU, says. “That’s why institutions are having to make cuts or reduce services and programs … they don’t have enough funding.”

It’s been a little over a month since VIUSU’s Cuts Suck media launch on September 17, 2025, in front of the library, and more recently at the club fair.

The movement fights for equal funding in post-secondary education institutions and a reframing of the current funding model that makes students pay more in lieu of provincial financial support. With current cuts, students are having to pay more out of pocket, international fees have skyrocketed, and students face more barriers that delay graduation due to the current funding model.

“As public funding declined, institutions turned to tuition increases and international student recruitment to fill the gap,” the 2025 Cuts Suck lobbying document reports.

Domestic tuition has risen 1,137% and international tuition by 6,761% since 1972.

The Cuts Suck campaign recommends that BC strengthen the tuition limit policy, develop a new funding model, restore funding, and modernize international education policy.

The funding model should be restored to a predictable, sustainable model by enhancing the Tuition Limit Policy; this will keep education affordable while still making profits for institutions, as reported in the 2025 Cuts Suck Lobby document. To read more details on the Cuts Suck: F!x Education campaign, check out the website at cutssuck.ca.

VIUSU has been a key advocate for spreading awareness of this campaign.

“It’s a joint effort between all of our team members and students either volunteering and or just by engaging with the campaign,” VIUSU communications organizer, Sydney Sullivan, says.

All students are invited to join too! Postcards are available at the VIUSU building on campus to write your thoughts to BC’s minister of post-secondary education. VIUSU will send it off for you. The Students’ Union has already received 500 postcards featuring student photos, showing the faces of real people affected by these cuts.

This is your opportunity to take charge of your education.

Join the VIU student union with the Cuts Suck campaign to advocate for student funding from the provincial government today!

Join the VIU student union with the Cuts Suck campaign to advocate for student funding from the provincial government today!