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University officials have yet again announced that a rise in tuition should be expected in the coming academic year. But who is really surprised? Although no definite numbers have been hammered out, it is unlikely that students will be stunned by even a 15-percent increase.
Since 2001, tuition for undergraduate students has risen on average about 10 percent annually. Although some students may disagree with the way the university spends its money, the fact is that U of L must be competitive in offering well-paid faculty and staff positions if students want to reap the benefits of being pupils at Kentucky’s second-largest university.
Unfortunately, the price of higher education – both for individuals attending college and states appropriating budgets for higher education – is rising steadily, and students have every reason to expect it to continue to do so. Administrative and faculty salaries must stay competitive with other universities, and programs continually need increased funding to stay abreast of the competition.
And it’s not just the typical undergraduate Arts and Sciences student feeling the burden of the tuition increases. Medical, dental and law students face the same rising costs just as they have for the past several years. Student in these fields, though, must realize that in order to be trained as competent doctors, dentists and lawyers, more funding is required to keep up with advancements in these professions.
Unfortunately for students, state funds are being stretched ever thinner, leaving students to make up the difference. The problem then is not merely that higher education costs the taxpayers more and more, but that students must furnish an increasing share of that cost.
It is incumbent upon students to inform themselves about how the university is spending the increasing number of tuition dollars we’re continually giving to the institution, and see to it that their protests against tuition hikes are duly noted by the administration. Beyond this, the rising cost of education is, for the time being, just business as usual, and offers a life lesson in begrudging acceptance.
