Students need tuition freeze

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has proposed a budget that requests a one-year tuition freeze for public universities in Connecticut. Freezing tuition will create a budget gap. Thus, the governor is calling on the public university system to use $50 million in unexpended funds in order to "buy down" the previously planned tuition hikes.

Additionally, the governor is also requesting no cuts to the state financial aid program.

Recently, the UConn administration has been disputing the advantages of the tuition freeze. The tuition freeze would cost the university over $5 million and using the surplus is only a one-time option. In opposing the freeze, the administration argues that the restrictions on tuition will result in the university needing to make cutbacks to services - especially faculty. They argue the proposal could result in even larger tuition increases over future years.

In many respects, there is a chance the freeze runs contrary to many issues students have been fighting for - increased faculty, operating budget reform, increased services and small class sizes. On the other hand, the freeze represents important policy related values that most everyone firmly believes in - fairness, equal opportunity, access and affordability.

After considering both sides of the issue, it is clear the advantages of a tuition freeze outweigh the costs. The optimal policy would be a tuition freeze where the legislature allocates additional funds to fill in the gap. However, in this world of tight budgets and political motives, the optimal policy is not always possible. Even if the legislature cannot fill the gap, Rell's proposal will leave Connecticut students better off than before.

If managed correctly, the university's additional funds can pay down the monetary shortfall created by a freeze. Furthermore, if not politicized, the university can also proceed with funding essential services. It is also clear if cutbacks need to be made, the university has other non-essential services and administrative positions that can be cut before academic services and faculty are touched.

However, the most compelling arguments for a tuition freeze are found in the values of accessibility and opportunity. Repeatedly, the administration has referred to UConn as a "big business." In fact, UConn Chief Financial Officer Lorraine Aronson was quoted as saying, "The university is a big business." Policymakers disagree.

Higher education as a sector of the economy may be "big business." Although higher education may be "big business," this university is not. Perhaps only semantics, but UConn is a public institution and thinking of it as a business stirs up bad impressions. Public institutions are accountable to the people and to the values of fairness and opportunity. Businesses are not.

Total tuition costs and fees have risen at well past the rate of inflation for the past several years. Some increases have been double-digit percentages and mid-year, without warning. Students coming to the university next year will pay nearly $5,000 more in their final year than students graduating this year paid in their first year of college. With rapidly rising costs, there is no endgame in sight. Increases are having unintended consequences on the ability of some students to afford college costs.

Higher Education Commissioner Valerie Lewis has cited increasing college costs as having negative consequences on the state education system. For this reason, the Commissioner of Higher Education - an extremely well respected education policymaker - supports Rell's freeze proposal.

Even with a tuition freeze, many qualified students will still not be able to pay for college. This is why Rell has asked the state not to make cutbacks to financial aid. The administration can bicker all they want about dollars and funding, but ultimately students should be at the center of the debate. When considering good public policy, it is important for the legislature to consider students first.

The tuition costs associated with college have a huge influence on who applies to college, who drops out of college and how long students attend college. Federal research validates such a claim. The university administration maintains that surveys indicate financial costs are not a major reason for students declining to attend UConn once accepted. Such is probably true. However, rising tuition costs are a major factor in who decides to apply to college - something for which no UConn survey accounts.

Although the number of applications is increasing, an entire segment of the population is being left behind - unable to afford a four-year UConn degree. Federal cutbacks to financial aid further worsen equal opportunity. Public education is meant to be open to all - not just to the privileged. The costs of educating students in Connecticut are higher than the national average simply because the cost of living in New England is greater. Nevertheless, higher costs do not account for closing the door of opportunity to a segment of Connecticut's population.

Higher tuition costs are forcing students to apply to two-year community colleges rather than four-year institutions. My brother goes to a high school where teachers routinely tell students to apply to Manchester Community College and then to transfer to UConn for their final two years. Teachers tell students this because they realize that demographic and financial factors of the town will make it nearly impossible for many students to afford four years of UConn education. In an era where a college degree is increasingly important, a community college degree does not hold as much authority as a four-year degree.

Research done by the Board of Governors for Higher Education indicates even a one-year freeze can have long-term benefits of preventing costs from spiraling. Traditional expectations in education say that if the state does not pay, the student will pick up the difference. Rell has challenged this fundamental assumption by bringing into question whether current college costs are equitable and fair.

At the very least, Rell has ventured to put students' interests first while providing a reasonable, although not optimal, way of making up the gap. If the legislature can back fill the tuition dollar shortage, it would be optimal. If not, the legislature should still pass a freeze and have the university "buy down" the cost of tuition using surplus funds so that essential current services are least influenced.

The interests of the administration are not the interests of students. The university is not a big business. Most importantly, values of equal opportunity and fairness are important considerations. For the sake of students, the administration and legislature should consider long and hard the benefits of a freeze. After doing so, it is reasonable to conclude that the university cannot expect students to pay for what the state has not. The freeze can work and can allow the university to keep on track for providing services.

Sources:

Hartford Courant. "Why A Tuition Freeze Is Good For Connecticut." 17 Feb. 2005.