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Colleges losing students after faculty strike

[1]

Students and faculty on the picket line during the provincewide strike by college faculty.

By Trisha Bauder [2]

BELLEVILLE – More than 10 per cent of full-time college students provincewide have withdrawn from their studies because of the faculty strike [3] that cancelled classes for several weeks this fall.

At Loyalist College the percentage of students who quit their studies was 11.26, according to Kerry Lorimer, director of marketing, communications and recruitment at the college. That’s slightly above the provincial average of 10.3 per cent announced Tuesday by the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development [4].

A total of 316 Loyalist students received tuition rebates after withdrawing from their programs by the Dec. 5 deadline, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the college.

“Colleges have always been committed to supporting students who didn’t feel they could complete their studies at this time because of the strike [5],” said Loyalist president Ann Marie Vaughan.

“Many students are looking to return later and we’ll work with them to help them complete their college education.”

Across the province, just under 25,700 students have withdrawn from their semesters, the provincial government says.

Deb Matthews, the minister of advanced education, has said she expects that many of the students who have withdrawn to re-enrol and come back in January or September next year.