TRU is anticipating a 30 per cent drop in international students next school year (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

TRU COVID-19

Projected drop in international students due to COVID-19 has TRU books going from surplus to deficit

May 22, 2020 | 5:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — At the beginning of the fiscal year, Thompson Rivers University was looking strong. It was projecting a $12 million surplus. But with onslaught of COVID-19, the university has taken a big hit, now facing a $6 million deficit.

“That included the losses from all our summer business, so every dollar saved now is helping to offset that forecasted deficit,” said TRU’s Vice-President of Administration and Finance Matt Milovick.

TRU was anticipating $8 million worth of contracts, from course training, hotel stays on campus and catering events. It’s been trying its best to contain spending and costs in light of the losses.

“Things like not hiring vacancies, not back-filling, not hiring new positions,” said Milovick. “Really, we have to wait and see what our fall numbers are going to look like.”

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Adding to the financial woes is fewer international students expected back on campus in the fall. While there are no official numbers, TRU knows it will be a significant drop.

“Our initial forecast was that we would lose about 30 per cent of the international students, so the assumption we’d lose most of the incoming first-year international students and some percentage of internationals that were already here,” said Milovick.

TRU had projected $67 million in revenue from international students. The only positive has been an $800,000 bump in summer tuition from international students who have decided not to go home. Yuwei Gong is not going back home to China, staying at TRU instead likely until Christmas.

“I already talked to my parents. My parents would like me to stay here,” he said. “I prefer to go back to China, but my parents told me I should stay here.”

It’s not due to the virus itself but more related to travel costs. Yuwei says it’s about $4,000 for a one-way ticket to Beijing — four times more expensive than normal with limited flights in and out of the country. So while his friends will continue their Canadian university studies online in China, Yuwei will stay in Kamloops for fall semester.

TRU is banking on more students staying, but it likely won’t make up for the losses the university is expecting.