Thursday, January 29, 2009
Editorial: Stick a dunce cap on this tuition bill
Here's a civics and economic lesson that is absolutely priceless.
From the RoundTable blog
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Virginia lawmakers have sliced millions of dollars from higher education. Before their work is completed this term, they'll slash millions more to balance their budget.
Colleges and universities still need to operate, so they:
n Cut staff, meaning fewer classes and course offerings, and as Radford just announced, fewer majors.
n Raise tuition and fees.
n Increase the number of out-of-state students in order to collect higher tuition. The University of Virginia, for example, realizes $20,000 more a year for each student crossing the border to study at Mr. Jefferson's school.
While the third option seems to inflict less financial pain on Virginians, it does come with a steep price: The more out-of-state students Virginia Tech accepts, the fewer slots it will have for local students wishing to enter its freshman class.
A number of bills are floating about Richmond to try to force state colleges and universities to have a set percentage of in-state students.
The one gaining the most traction is sponsored by Rep. David Albo, a Fairfax County Republican. Albo wants to obtain a ratio of 80 percent Virginia students by requiring schools to increase in-state enrollment by 1.3 percent each year.
The bill might merit some consideration if the state kicked in the $7.5 million needed to fund it (which isn't likely to happen) or, better yet, stopped stripping money from higher ed.
As it stands, the cost would be forced upon the schools, which would prompt them to raise tuition even higher.
But wait: Albo thinks he hit on a way to increase slots in the freshman class and still keep the higher tuition paid by out-of-state students. His grand idea? Charge out-of-state tuition to Virginians who take longer than four years and 120 credits to complete their degree.
He conveniently forgets students are taking longer because necessary classes aren't available due to budget cuts and tuition is so high that some students are working their way through school.
Albo needs to rethink this unwise amendment to a bill that already deserved a dunce cap.
