KPU waives tuition fees for eligible Indigenous students, unveils new reconciliation framework

Starting this fall, Kwantlen Polytechnic University will waive tuition fees for students who are members of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Musqueam, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt, or Kwikwetlem First Nations. KPU is located on the traditional and ancestral lands of these seven First Nations. Glenda Luymes of the Vancouver Sun reports that KPU is one of the first Canadian postsecondary institutions to waive tuition fees for Indigenous students, and that the practice is more common in the United States. Luymes highlights some of the other access-focused initiatives in place at BC institutions such as the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island University use to reduce barriers for Indigenous students who want to pursue education. KPU’s tuition waiver announcement coincides with the release of its new reconciliation framework, xéʔelɬ KPU Pathway to Systemic Transformation.