OUR VIEW: Preserve diversity of thought at USU
Are we at this university merely to receive professional training in our chosen fields in preparation for a career? Or, are we here to broaden our understanding of multiple subjects, challenging our ideas and finding, through diverse experiences, what truly inspires us?
The USU mission statement includes the goal of “diversity of thought,” and we believe that educational diversification is just as important as specialization, if not more so.
The Huntsman School of Business currently charges differential tuition for its upper division courses and we wonder how many students have buried their curiosity for marketing, management or economics because an English class is free.
At 18 we are ill-prepared to choose what we are meant to do, and by increasing the costs associated with certain courses, the definition of their value changes to the point where students are more inclined to broaden their understanding of language, art, philosophy and the hard and soft sciences as opposed to forking over the dough for a business course.
Advocates of differential tuition have, understandably, the desire to see their programs excel. They want extra funds in order to attract higher-profile faculty and in turn increase institutional prestige. We would argue, however, that students at USU made the conscientious decision to come to this university based on a percieved value. Each of us had the opportunity to bury ourselves in debt pursuing degrees at Ivy League and top-tier institutions but we decided, as individuals, that Utah State had the right balance of quality and cost and the sense of community that we desired for our collegiate experience. Differential tuition, however, destroys this sense of community.
As the price of courses become more disparate, the metaphorical divide between business majors and non-business majors widens. What happens when the dominoes fall and more colleges request differential tuition? How long before USU is an a la carte education where you select only the material that pertains to your narrow focus?
The word “university” shares a root with “universal,” meaning all-reaching and all-encompassing. We believe it is best to pay our tuition and then have the freedom to take whatever coursework our fancy leads us to. If the Huntsman School – or Arts, Education, HASS or Natural Resources – does, in fact, require more funds, then let us decide as a collective to raise our tuition, and preserve our freedom to diversify ourselves.
Perhaps there are ways to mitigate the effects. Could differential tuition be lowered for non-majors taking electives? Could students be given a credit allowance before differential kicks in? Whatever the case, we must preserve the academic mission of diversity of thought. We must preserve students’ freedom to try new things. There is no way to know in what program an individual student may excel, but that decision should be made based on interests and curiosity and not stifled by financial barriers.