A new report on tuition and other fees found what many families might suspect: post-secondary education is becoming less universal and less affordable.

The report, released last month by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, details the soaring costs to study at Canadian universities and reveals sobering statistics about a growing two-tier model of education.

On average, Canadian undergraduate tuition will hit $5,959 this fall. Additional compulsory fees — which are largely unregulated by the provinces — will increase the national average to $6,885. While the costs of getting a degree are on the rise, with tuition and compulsory fees tripling over the past 20 years, public funding as a share of university operating revenue has declined from 79 per cent to 55 per cent over roughly the same period of time, according to CCPA’s report Tier for Two: Managing the Optics of Pro­vincial Tuition Fee Policies.

The report also shows an increa-singly patchwork, privatized and individualized system of university financing based on the level of provincial commitment, and the disparate student assistance programs that, in most areas, fall short of alleviating the financial challenges students are facing during the course of their studies.

Newfoundland and Labrador tops the list as the least expensive province for tuition and other compulsory fees, starting from a 25 per cent tuition fee rollback at the turn of the millennium, followed by a freeze over the past decade. Students in the province will shell out $2,871 on average in tuition and other compulsory fees in 2014–2015.

Additional policy to help prevent students from graduating with huge debt loads has been realized in the province’s decision to phase out loans and replace them with needs-based grants.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ontario ($8,474) and Saskatche­wan ($7,226) carry the highest price of a university education.

The report also estimates the average cost of tuition and other fees will increase by 13 per cent over the next four years.

“As fees continue to increase, almost without exception, provincial policies have shifted to a de facto two-tiered fee structure that sees in-pro­vince students charged less than out-of-province students for the same degree. It’s undercut the principle of universality, as students find themselves in very different financial situations depending on the province in which they reside and where they choose to pursue their education,” said CCPA’s education director and report co-author Erika Shaker.

The Canadian Federation of Students, which protests the country’s record levels of student debt that have now surpassed $15 billion, says the financial pressures are leading to a crisis in education.

“Tuition fees and student debt is leading to tremendous inequa­lity of access across socio-econo­mic status and between regions. Stu­dents and their families deserve protection from fee increases that leave graduates footing a very significant bill for public education,” says Jessica McCormick, national chair of the CFS.

She said while there may be some programs available that help some students offset the costs, “the federal government should ensure students in every province have access to affordable post-secondary education.”