OUR VIEW: You thought this year’s tuition hikes were done

You’d better start digging through those couch cushions and smashing those piggy banks if you belong to the College of Business.

Nope, that money isn’t disappearing to finance a new business venture. Rather, it’s going toward your education. With the $725 differential tuition increase in 2007-2008, students in the College of Business have a substantial addition to their education costs – an addition that is unique to that college.

The change comes at a time when tuition across the board has increased, leaving a $119 dent in every student’s pocket. But add to that another $725, and business students are well-neigh paying double tuition.

This is the first time a large differential tuition has been instituted at USU. The deliberations have gone on for a while among the Utah State Board of Regents, the USU Business Council and various ASUSU officers. But why is this the first time we’ve heard about it?

With a change of this magnitude that directly affects students, deliberations should have been more public and involved more students in the College of Business. While it’s true that ASUSU is designed to represent the views of the students, they can’t fully represent the opinions of the students if the students never know about the change before it happens.

Not only is the raise in tuition sudden, it is also an extremely large jump that will increase by $15 per credit again the following year. If a differential tuition increase is going to happen, it would be much easier for students to stomach if it weren’t such a large sum. Start out small and go up from there.

This tuition increase leaves some students scrounging for money to pay the increase and others to consider going to Weber State University to be able to afford an education in business. Instead of improving the quality of education with the tuition increase, it may create the opposite effect as it drives students away because they can’t afford to go to school.

The business department claims these funds are necessary to secure the future of the program as they are underfunded and need to bring in new teachers. Isn’t this a problem faced by almost every program at the university? With the exception of the engineering and education programs, which are largely funded by philanthrophy, all USU programs suffer for a lack of money and are constantly waging the battle of bringing in new teachers to replace the old ones.

The College of Business’ bold move to increase tuition in just that department could mark the start of a descent down a slippery slope. If the College of Business can increase tuition to solve funding issues, what’s to stop other colleges that are underfunded, like the college of HASS, from increasing their tuition? And once another college has done it, the race is on with tuition across the board on the rise.

This is unacceptable. One of the great features of USU is the quality of education students can get for the price. If colleges start raising the tuition, that element will be lost and the students will be the ones to suffer.

The College of Business’ differential increase is going to happen and there’s nothing students can do about it. But if there’s a lesson that can be pulled away from this it’s for administrators to let the students know if they are considering a change of this magnitude.

Students, this is your university and your education. Take charge of it. If you hear of a possible rise in your tuition, stand up and voice your opinion. Don’t let something that will effect you this deeply pass without a fight. Stand up for your education and your money.