Monday, August 21, 2006
UW Students cry about tuition, avoid real problems
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Still on vacation, but I found this funny on the Capital Times Web site.
University of Wisconsin Regents were poised today to approve what officials called the smallest tuition increase in the past 25 years, but students say it's still too much.
"We're fired up, can't take it no more," chanted a group of about 35 UW students from the Oshkosh, Madison and Milwaukee campuses as they held signs outside Van Hise Hall this morning.
Taylor Johnson, who organized the student protest as the regents were debating the proposal to increase tuition by an average of 2.5 percent for the next two years, said it's still too great and that a freeze is needed.
"It's a public university, that means public education," Johnson said. "We've seen an 82 percent increase over the past six years and we've had enough. We've got to open college to those with trouble affording it."
Public means public dollars, not manditory public education like K-12. After spending four days in Pennsylvania, and seeing how expensive it is to go to school here, I think Wisconsin students have it made. At Penn State University, and its satellites, tuition is right around $10,000. Out-of-state tuition is about $10K more than that. During the wedding after party which I had attended, there were a lot of college-aged kids and we all came to the conclusion that a UW tuition bill was still relatively cheap. My older PA cousin who graduated from PSU-Erie paid some $50K for the four years of college. My younger PA cousin (the bride), paid more.
Plus, this tuition increase is below 3.1 percent, the current rate of the Milwaukee-Racine Consumer Price Index (inflation). Last year about this time, we were desperately calling for a inflationary hike. This year, these out-of-touch students from Madison, Milwaukee and the Colleges are asking for an out-of-touch tuition freeze.
Call me crazy, but I think that 2.5 percent is OK.
When I get back on Thursday, I will have a lot of thoughts on a lot of developments in the UW, including state Rep. Steven Nass's proposal for the UW System, the 2007-09 UW Budget and a whole lotta' mo.
Labels: UW System
