By
The Wildcat Opinions Board
Arizona's constitution directs that state universities should be as inexpensive as possible. That is, if we have a choice between raising rates or not, we should always err on the side of not raising tuition.
However, if utilized inappropriately, this policy could damage our strong university system. Tuition should be kept down, but not if it forces us to cut back on facilities and especially not if it forces faculty out of the state universities. Many things contribute to a positive and enlightening experience during a student's years at the university, but the most important is quality professors.
Without textbooks, without buildings, without administration, we could still have a university. We could sit on the Mall and discuss the issues and concerns raised in a class. However, it is inconceivable that we could have a university without a professor to lead the discussions, to guide the students and inspire them.
So far, this policy has worked admirably. Even with recent raises in tuition for in-state and out-of-state students, tuition at Arizona universities is significantly lower than tuition in other states. Despite the claims of many faculty, the quality of the education here and in the other two universities in the system has not been overly affected by the "nearly free" policy.
Unfortunately, that might change.
For the past few years, there has been increasing agitation on the part of the faculty for higher salaries, and it is absolutely possible that it will reach a breaking point in the near future. Colleges and universities outside Arizona have been raising tuition at a frightening rate, so much so that they have outpaced inflation by nearly 15 percent in some cases. While this makes parents cringe, it allows these universities to give additional monies to all sorts of university expenses - including faculty salaries.
If salaries at nearly all other institutions are increasing, even at a slow pace, while faculty salaries here remain stable, pressure will build for quality professors to jump ship and go somewhere that will pay them their fair market value.
Generally, these issues could be resolved through increased state funding for the universities. If the state approves more funds for faculty salaries, the salaries can go up without hurting students directly. However, recent years have shown this to be a false hope. Rather than increasing our funding, the legislature has cut it, forcing UA President Peter Likins to raise funds at an incredible pace to make ends meet.
Faculty salaries are important enough that if monies cannot be acquired from the state, tuition should be raised to meet the cost of paying them somewhere near a market wage. It should be noted, however, that this is not a blank check for tuition increases: such an increase should only be used to fund faculty salary increases. They make our education possible; we owe them at least that much.
