FREDERICTON – Early excitement over “free tuition” in New Brunswick has faded as details of the plan have become known.

Now a group of New Brunswick graduates has formed that’s dedicated to protecting and promoting the interests of recent graduates of post-secondary institutions in the province.

The New Brunswick Graduates Organization (NBGO) has started a petition calling for the return of the tuition tax credit, one of several benefits and programs slashed or gutted to help support the Tuition Access Bursary. The petition also calls for the forgiveness of provincial student debt for grads of post-secondary institutions in NB, should those grads currently reside in, or remain in the province upon graduation.

“The tuition tax rebate in itself is probably not enough to retain graduates in New Brunswick; that’s a more complex problem, but the rebate did show that the government hadn’t forgotten about grads entirely. It was a step in the right direction. The problem with the rebate being scrapped is that grads are the ones being penalized,” said Shauna Chase, one of the founding members of NBGO.

“So now we’ve not only paid dearly for our education, which we believed was an investment, but which is now more of a liability, but now we’re paying into student loans, never being able to be free of them, and New Brunswickers a few years younger than us are not paying for education or for student loans. We’re paying twice while others aren’t paying at all, in other words.”

Chase said though the Tuition Access Bursary in its current form will give many low income students access to education, it will leave recent graduates out to dry. Forcing many, including herself, to move elsewhere.

“Graduates who have been here for a few years now, trying unsuccessfully to find stable, meaningful work, wanting to start a family but not being able to — well, we’re just going to leave,” Chase said. “There’s a huge chunk of the money-earning, population-sustaining demographic just out the window.”

I’ll move my family out of #nb eventually if govt doesn’t fix their disastrous “free tuition” program. I feel bad for current students. — ✈️ Epicvoyager (@epicvoyager) May 9, 2016

So we give free tuition to half of NB students but then cancel the tuition tax rebate for everyone? That makes a lot of sense #not#nbpoli — David Thibodeau (@DavidSThibodeau) April 16, 2016

Fredericton MLA and Green Party leader David Coon will present their petition in the legislature on May 17.

“What the New Brunswick Graduates’ Organization is asking is for the province to recognize the investment we’ve made by choosing to study, work and live here. We’re not asking for handouts, just the promised return on the investment we’ve made,” Chase said. “We hope that this will lead to our voices being heard so we can continue to make positive change for New Brunswickers.”

Though the group is only a few days old, Chase said the response and support has been overwhelming.

“People have been saying ‘Finally, someone to speak for us!’ Grads have been wanting this for a while.”