| Tuition increases
prompt legislative intervention
By Jacob Harrison
Collegian Reporter
Washington State
University boasts the largest hot tub on the West Coast. The
52-person spa is an example of the millions of marketing dollars
some colleges and universities are spending on recreational
facilities.
Yet college students have endured
the largest tuition increase in decades, prompting the federal
government to seek legislation that would cut funding to schools
whose costs rise faster than the rate of inflation.
The College Board released a new
study showing that the cost of tuition in the nation's four-year
colleges and universities has skyrocketed 47 percent over the
last decade -far higher than the year's rate of inflation. This
increase is the highest jump in the past 30 years, with state
schools charging 9.8 percent more than last year, and private
schools charging an average of 5.7 percent more.
In response, Howard P. McKeon,
a Republican senior member of the House Committee on Education
and the Workforce, introduced a bill earlier this month that
would penalize colleges whose yearly increases consistently
surpass the inflation rate.
Hillsdale College has also raised
their cost of tuition this year by 5 percent, from $15,000 to
$15,750. But Provost Robert Blackstock said Hillsdale's increase
is caused by different factors than those driving most private
and state schools.
Blackstock said increases in state
and private school tuitions could be attributed to two main
factors.
First, as federal support for
financial aid continues to rise, colleges and universities increase
tuition to get a larger share of the money.
At the same time, state budget
cuts have diminished state support for higher education.
A recent survey by the National
Conference of State Legislatures found that state spending on
higher education has dropped an average of 2.2 percent this
year, with some states decreasing expenditures by over 10 percent.
Yet John Boehner, the chairman
of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said
in a recent New York Times article that hyperinflation in college
costs has plagued parents and students for more than a decade,
but cannot be attributed to lack of state or federal spending,
since tuition has continually risen despite increases in state
investments in the past.
Hillsdale Director of Admissions
Jeffrey Lantis said that as more schools build new dorms with
indoor whirlpool spas and other lavish marketing targets, it
becomes hard to justify the excuse of under-funding in the mind
of the consumer.
"These lavish accommodations
are a concern," he said. "As non-profit organizations,
competition among colleges for the best students has created
this huge marketing push that really has nothing to do with
education."
At Hillsdale, this year's tuition
increase was brought on by economic factors that have diminished
the school's endowment. Scholarships, which increase along with
tuition hikes, are covered with endowment funds. However, they
do not decrease even if the endowment return suffers. The tuition
increase is part of a response to offset and balance these factors.
Blackstock said Hillsdale is affected
by state and federal funding, as schools take these revenues
and build expansive recreational and entertainment venues in
an attempt to draw the best students. This forces other schools
to compete in one form or another.
"At Hillsdale there is a
constant tension, because we are told that we are worth more
and should raise tuition," he said. "Every year I
have been here, the winner of the argument has always been the
side that seeks to keep tuition as low as possible."
Lantis said education has "lost
its way" in the course of the recruitment battle, and that
this new tuition explosion is a sharp reminder of how far higher
education has moved from the business of educating to the business
of marketing.
"It is yet another manifestation
of cultural decay, and loss of educational focus," Blackstock
said. "Perhaps we have forgotten that Alexander the Great
did OK with Aristotle, and without an indoor water park."
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