Letter to the Editor: Real increase in tuition should’ve been predicted
In the 10 October 2004 Statesman Vice President Joyce Kinkead is quoted as follows explaining how much more students would pay in tuition following implementation of the three year mega tuition increase proposed by His High Holiness President Kermit Hall: “..the truth is that in the end of this period students will be paying approximately $200 more per semester than they pay now”. So over three years tuition would increase a total of $200 a semester. That really doesn’t sound too bad. And yet the Statesman reported on the 27th of March that the tuition increase for next year by itself, the third year of the Hall tuition increase, would be $246. It bothers me that when VP Kinkead was trying to sell the Kermit Hall mega increase she told us that tuition would go up $200 a semester over a period of three years, when in fact, over just one of those three years the increase amounted to $246. Either VP Kinkead knowingly told a lie to placate students and didn’t anticipate that anyone would dredge up the interview two years later or the University is so poorly managed that tuition increases are something the administration has no ability to control or accurately forecast. Either way, it demonstrates a serious flaw and weakness in the administration and management of Utah State University. Compared to the rest of the nation, USU remains a tremendous value. USU might still be a good deal, but that doesn’t mean that the increases are prudent or necessary or that they will bring about effectual change. Raising tuition to levels comprable to academically superior institutions in our region like BYU and the University of Utah is not the way to increase enrollment. Enrollment will likely drop again next year, leaving many large fixed costs to be born by an ever smaller student body, likely causing another increase in tuition. The downward spiral must be stopped.
Thomas R. Grover