Due to the cuts caused by the continuing economic crisis, many state university students across the nation will face an ugly surprise when their tuition is increased before the start of the upcoming fall semester.
Parents and students alike are already aware of the exorbitantly high cost of higher education in the United States. Up until now, state universities provided some reprieve for those who could not afford expensive private colleges.
Unfortunately, dwindling state budgets have caused 25 different governors to sign off on bills slashing funding for colleges. The reduction in state college funding is estimated by the National Association of State Budget Officers to total around $5 billion.
Therefore, students can expect tuition to increase by as much as 22%, though costs will vary by state. For example, community colleges in New Hampshire can expect to see 8% increases, while students at Louisiana state universities will pay 10% more for tuition this upcoming fall. Florida increased the tuition for their state universities by 15%, the third year in a row that they have done so. They have announced that unless the state economy improves, 15% annual tuition hikes will continue to be employed.
State schools argue that these tuition hikes are necessary to maintain a good quality of education with reduced state funding. Louisiana Chancellor Michael Martin believes these state university budget cuts reflected a wider shift in national opinion of higher education. He states that when economic times are rough, as they are today, higher education is seen more as a personal choice than a “public value”, therefore the financial burden of attending college is seen as the students’ and parents’ responsibility.
Meanwhile, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindall had no qualms about slashing college funding to improve the state budget, though he had vetoed the renewal of a 4-cent cigarette tax just last week, which could have equally boosted state income.
As of now, there has been little analysis of possible long-term effects of pricing students out of higher education altogether. Though lawmakers may see cuts to education as necessary to the budget now, a strained state education system and possible student dropouts may lead to a decline in the skilled workforce of tomorrow.
For those students who refuse to be priced out of college, and decide instead to take out more loans to finish their schooling, future debt is a huge concern, especially due to the current unpromising job market.
Though state lawmakers may perceive tuition cuts as necessary, they should perhaps be reserved only as final measures for desperate situations, since the short-term relief they provide to state budgets has possible long-term consequences for citizens such as burdensome student debt and discouraging college enrollment. The reduction in college funding is a sad reflection of the priorities of many U.S. lawmakers, who have no qualms about neglecting education while balking at a 4 cent tax on tobacco.
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