This is a rewrite of a previous Staff Editorial on the topic of tuition that has since been removed from our website for factual inaccuracies. We wanted to rewrite this article because we have a lot of thoughts on the tuition process, and instead we wrote an article on the politics of the situation and turned it into a misguided personal attack. Everyone at this school pays tuition, and we feel that we need to speak out on this important topic.
Tuition is a hotly contested issue at AU. It is also a complex and nuanced topic, with no clear right and wrong answer. Inflation is inevitable, but students' incomes do not always rise with inflation. The school is investing heavily in new construction, but some students will not be able take advantage of those opportunities if their tuition rises higher than they can pay.
In our last staff editorial on this topic, we naively focused our criticisms of the process that determines the new budget on Student Government Comptroller Abby Dunn, who in reality is trying to represent the students’ wishes as a member of the University Budget Committee.
Instead of taking the tempting bait by going after SG on this issue, we needed to focus on how these decisions, made by the University Budget Committee, President Neil Kerwin and the Board of Trustees, affect students. Many of us have known people who have had to leave AU because they could no longer afford rising tuition. AU has a reputation as a school so expensive that only well-off students can attend, and raising the tuition only further limits the socioeconomic diversity of the student body.
Just because we acknowledge these facts, it does not mean that anyone involved in the budgeting process is a bad person or has any intention of harming students. On the contrary, it is likely that everyone is not only trying to keep costs down as much as possible, but is also attempting to ensure that we will continue to enjoy great new facilities and programs.
This issue is not one that can be unraveled overnight and certainly not by the Eagle staff. We understand that SG is doing everything in its power to represent the students. By joining the Education Not Debt Coalition, SG showed that its members are passionate about keeping tuition as low as possible, while also being realistic by proposing a 2.7 percent increase (which would be the lowest increase in the last decade).
Ultimately, the focus in any discussion of tuition hikes should be on the students affected by them. This issue is incredibly important to many AU students who are currently unsure if they will be able to come back to school next year, and they deserve better than petty attacks on those who are trying to advocate for them. -E
