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BURNS: Tuition-hike roundup for week of Feb. 22 February 28, 2010 Reports compiled by Steve Burns
The economic crisis has only exacerbated a long-term trend in declining state support for higher education, and the shifting of the cost of education onto the backs of students. Below is a brief roundup of tuition-hike reports from around the country.
New York: Under a bill passed by the state legislature this week, 90% of the funds raised by a tuition increase at State University of New York (SUNY) will not go to the university system, but will be used instead to cover the state's $1.6 billion budget deficit.
The newly-implemented tuition increase generates around $76 million from all SUNY schools. Of this, $68 million will go towards paying off the state budget deficit. SUNY students will see a $310 tuition increase this spring, with only $31 going to the SUNY schools, and $279 going to the state. Jacob Crawford, trustee and president of the Student Assembly, reacted strongly to the legislation. "SUNY students are not ATMs for the state," Crawford said. "Tuition is not a tax. Yet, lawmakers seem convinced of the opposite. I never could have dreamed of such a gross misuse of my tuition dollars; we have truly seen the ultimate bait and switch in Albany." The legislation includes a plan for a 20 percent tuition hike for SUNY students next year, with 80% of the money from that increase going to the state. Full story here...
Lawmakers facing a $1 billion state budget deficit told University of Georgia System Chancellor Erroll Davis to expect a $385 million cut in state support for the university system. Davis estimated that covering the loss in state funding entirely from tuition would require a 77% tuition hike, raising tuition at four-year institutions such as Georgia Tech and UGA to more than $10,000 a year; to more than $6,700 a year at other four-year colleges, and over $4,000 annually at two-year schools. Lawmakers suggested across-the-board salary cuts within the university system and even consolidating some university campuses as way to deal with the shortfall.
Undergraduate SGA Executive Vice President Parker Hancock said, “Most students will obviously be very angry, very upset. I know for a lot of people going to college is a big burden on their families, or on themselves if they are trying to pay for it out of pocket, and I don’t know how they are going to get by.”
Georgia State Senator Don Balfour said, “I personally have no problem with you raising tuition at all, I mean, when we start going to zero [funding] and we aren’t giving you any money, the students are the only people who can pay.” Full story here... Louisiana schools could raise their tuition and fee costs -- without a vote of the Legislature -- by up to 10 percent a year under a plan proposed by Governor Jindal this week. The plan would remove a requirement that two-thirds of state lawmakers approve before Louisiana colleges and universities can raise tuition and fees.
In return for the added flexibility, the state's university system would be expected to increase admission standards and improve graduation rates, while community and technical colleges would have to show improvement in getting students into jobs.
State colleges could raise tuition and fees until they reach the average of similar schools in the South. LSU would be able to raise its tuition until it reaches the average of similar flagship schools nationally, a limit that would leave room for massive tuition increases; LSU's $5,300 annual cost for in-state students is about $3,000 less than the average for public flagship universities nationally. Areas of Focus:Full FundingUser CommentsNo Comments.Please login at the top of the page or register as a Democracy Square member if you would like to comment. |
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