Things Just Don't Add Up

Check out this opinion article from the Tucson Citizen:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/opinion/102013.php

In addition to pressing Shelton to make sure prices stay as low as possible for Arizonans seeking public higher education, the article says the following:

"The U.S. inflation rate is at 4.9 percent. The prospect of raising UA in-state student tuition by nearly triple that amount is stupefying.
The leap from $4,824 to $6,257 in two years is not only excessive, but also is completely contrary to the Arizona Constitution, which says a state university education "shall be as nearly free as possible.""

We agree with you, Tucson Citizen!

Let's examine some logical outcomes of pricing certain students out of the university system:
1) Poorer students will have little opportunity to lift themselves and their families out of poverty or near-poverty because they have less access to public education options.
2) "Public" education starts to look a lot like private education. Those who can afford it can have it and everyone else is excluded.
3) Shelton suggests that students get part-time jobs to offset the new increase in tuition, but the decline in the economy has made those jobs scarce. Even the U of A library stated that it will have to purge some 15 student workers next year. Where are these students supposed to earn the money to offset the cost of tuition now? If students work for the extra $726 (that's not including the new fee increases, just tuition) at minimum wage, that's 100 hours per semester (before taxes). How about we press Shelton to offer 100 hours of work to every undergraduate student who requests it? That would be sticking to his word.
4) If tuition prices are going up 13% and class sizes are getting larger, but inflation is only 4.9%, where is all that extra money going and what are the sacrifices we make in our quality of education?