BSU tuition hikes necessary
Opinion Monday, April 12th, 2010It’s official. Boise State University’s tuition and fees will increase 9 percent this fall. That means that you will be paying approximately $438 more a year.
State Board of Education President Paul Agidius told The Arbiter, “There are two ways students are denied access to education: When students can’t attend, and then if they can, but courses are not available. Our job is to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
While student outrage over these fees is clear, what most Boise State University, and other Idaho college students, fail to realize is that college in Idaho is, even after tuition increases, an amazing bargain. The University of California system will suffer a tuition hike of over 30 percent in the fall, making their tuition increase by $2,500. That’s roughly half of Boise State’s overall total student tuition. While it is irritating to pay more and take out more loans, Boise State students should consider themselves lucky that their overall tuition is still reasonably low.
Not only are our tuition increases reasonable, but they’re necessary. Whether or not you support the fee increases, they’re needed to counter the educational budget cuts that Gov. Butch Otter has made. If students should be outraged at anything, it should be directed at our government and their lack of support for education. Of all the cuts in spending that could be made, our government is quick to axe money for education needs.
“The economy is the driving factor in this. The cuts in this budget reflect that. It’s not about the value or the worth of one position or another,” said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, in The Idaho Statesman.
However, Idaho schools have lost $200 million in two years in funding, including these cuts, according to the Statesman. This seems to be a ridiculous amount of money when there are plenty of other areas that could take a cut, even a minor one.
Some students understand that these are tough economic times. Sophomore and Electrical & Computer Engineering major, Charlie Harster, said, “They obviously raised our tuition for a reason. If they can justify that it’s going to something useful and productive, then I’m fine with it.”
It seems that our attention is obviously being focused in the wrong direction. The real injustice that’s unfolded before our eyes are the state budget cuts, not the tuition hikes. Students need to consider themselves lucky and suck it up.
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Posted by Jessica Swider on Apr 12 2010. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Jessica, thank you for this article, as you make some very good points.
First, I have been vocal in my criticism of the tuition hikes, both on my own as a student and through the Idaho Student Association (seehttp://idstudents.org).
As a last resort to preserve educational infrastructure, as in this case, tuition hikes are a necessary evil. Since the legislature slashed state funding (again), the alternative would have been to slash classroom resources by the same amount.
The problem isn't the tuition hikes; they're a symptom. They're the hurt that students feel. The problem starts with the legislature systematically disinvesting in higher education.
The UC system in California is going through many tough issues right now. In our case, though, I think it's best to look at the tuition increases from the BSU perspective. Since I was a freshman, my annual fees have increased by over $1100 now. That's a lot of money, and it's the main reason why many young people don't enroll in college out of highschool, or drop out after just a few semesters.
Rest assured, the Idaho Student Association's position on higher education funding is not just a knee-jerk reaction to tuition hikes. We understand that sometimes, tuition hikes are necessary to prevent even further harm. But ISA is dedicated to restoring higher education as a top priority in Idaho, both for the betterment of individual students and to benefit the state through economic development and the growth of high-paying, high-skilled jobs.
I definitely see and agree with your points, and I hope that things do change. I just think that sometimes students complain without really thinking about things, which we're all guilty of, but it's important to really look at a situation and accept some necessary evils while working to change the underlying issues.
Thank you for your (intelligent) comments
Maybe everyone should take a look at not only how the state is budgeting itself but maybe how the school budgets its money too, the government isn't the only one responsible here. Just sayin…