Tuition hikes, larger class sizes. What else can be expected in response to the severe state deficits?
An email recently found its way into my inbox, citing a release by the Chancellor of The University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh (UWO), Richard Wells, noting a tuition increase to be expected in FY 2012. I was not surprised; tuition hikes are nothing new to me as I enter the final semester of my undergraduate coursework. My worry lies in what entering students of a four-year public university can expect.
The release noted that the Board of Regents of the UW System has approved a tuition increase averaging 5.5 percent for FY 2012. A student living on campus with a meal plan will experience a 3.7 percent increase in total price to attend; Wells also noted that UWO’s tuition increase is the lowest percentage increase in the UW System as a whole.
Is this meant to put the students and parents at ease? Yes, tuition is increasing approximately 3.7 percent, but no need to fear, it’s the lowest in the system.
The Washington Times also discussed tuition increases in higher education, noting that the University of Wisconsin System lost $125 million dollars in state funding, and the aforementioned tuition hikes are estimated to generate $37.5 million dollars in revenue “to help plug the gap”. This tuition increase alone provides less than one-third of the revenues necessary to meet the shortfall. UW-Oshkosh may also see increases in class size, cuts in study abroad and research programs, among others according to UW President Kevin P. Reilly.
The University of Wisconsin System is certainly not alone; the article comments that half of all states cut higher-education funding in their FY 2012 plans, by hundreds of millions of dollars in some cases.
The University of Virginia is raising tuition 8.9 percent, Virginia Tech by 9.2 percent, and 17 public institutions (individual campus and entire school systems) sampled by The Washington Times illustrated a 9.8 percent average increase compared to the fall of 2010. Some increases were even reported at 20 percent or more.
What will these increases be in FY 2013 and following years?
Bureau of Labor Statistics figures cited in The Washington Times article noted earlier report inflation of 3.6 percent for the past 12 months; the article leans to the notion that the “tight state budgets are the real culprit”.
This has been a consistent pattern in the last decade in both the public and private sectors. Northern New Mexico College increased its tuition by a whopping 51% from 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 and Wells College increased its own 67% in the same time period. The Department of Education has even created a handy interactive tool to point out the worst offenders. Could “tight state budgets” really be the reason for these drastic increases?
For students entering their last semester or even year of study, tuition hikes and cuts in education programs many not be viewed as a problem. But for those students who are just entering into their college careers, what can they expect in the next 4 to 5 years? I understand that these tuition hikes are diffident, but as illustrated, when combined with various other cuts in the school systems, will reduce the quality of higher education in this nation.
Funding higher education in the future: will parents have to dig deeper into what may be their already rapidly emptying pockets? Will students have to bite the bullet and take out higher interest rate private loans?
Education Intern Matthew Pearson contributed to this entry.
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