Friday, August 04, 2006
Now Diamond Jim wants to cap tuition
Nearly four years since Gov. Jim Doyle (D-WEAC/Casinos) is now calling for a 3-4% cap on UW System tuition. Where were you the last four years when your UW Regents raised tuition close to some 50 percent? Must be election year politics as usual for the governor, just like in 2002 when he said a 10 percent cap was too high.
"Making sure a college education remains affordable is a vital priority for our state," Governor Doyle said (in his press release). "The Regents should hold down tuition so that it doesn't rise faster than inflation. I am committed to reinvesting in the university, but I hope the Regents will also recognize the need to keep tuition in line with middle class families' ability to pay."
Excuse me governor, but didn't your Board of Regents cut tuition for out-of-state students? Didn't your Regents raise tuition 7 percent last year? Actually they have raised tuition every year since 1999.
The UW Students, who feel the brunt of this full-on attack from the Board of Regents, have been calling for tuition freezes every year. More and more students are being priced out of a quality education. If it weren't for my $3,000 in loans each semester, I wouldn't be able to attend UW-Green Bay.
Now in an election year, the governor is playing politics as usual instead of pushing for real cuts in tuition. Congressman Mark Green, who attended UW-Eau Claire for undergrad and UW-Madison for law school and is running for governor, has likened Doyle's tuition proposal like Barry Bonds and steriods: "Jim Doyle asking his Board of Regents to hold down tuition is like Barry Bonds asking Major League Baseball for a tougher steroid policy."
Funny line, but it is very true. While Green hasn't outlined specific plans for the UW (that will come in is 100 days to election day), this is what he said at the 2006 GOP Convention:
"Under this administration, the UW has been so wrapped up in red tape and bureaucratic maneuvers that they've actually been hiring convicted sex offenders, shelling out $700-a-month car stipends, creating hundreds of high-paying 'back up' jobs ... even jacking up tuition for Wisconsin families while slashing out-of-state tuition at the very same time.
"We are headed toward an era when anyone can go to the UW -- unless you're actually from Wisconsin. And the very people Jim Doyle put in charge of the university can't understand why everyone is so worked up.
"'But you don't understand,' they exclaim in a patronizing tone. But we do. While they defend turf, and programs, and perks, we defend students ... and we'll fight for their interests and their dreams."
While this is campaign rhetoric, Green nails what has happened in the UW for the last four years. Higher tuition, back-up jobs, and clueless regents.
Stay tuned for more as this will definitely develop in the coming months.
Labels: UW System
