Peter Likins UA President

Editor's note: The Arizona Board of Regents will decide next year's tuition at a meeting Thursday in Flagstaff. In anticipation of this decision, the Wildcat asked UA President Peter Likins and ASUA President Ray Quintero to express their views on tuition.

At an abstract level, the tuition debate is about sharing the financial responsibility of higher education among the students, the taxpayers and the benefactors of the university.

The benefits of a college education extend from the student to our society at large. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that both contribute to the cost of that education.

For Arizona residents, I have recommended a tuition increase of $300. For those 30 percent who qualify for federal, need-based Pell Grants, I support a $200 tuition waiver. However, my recommendation is not based on the current state fiscal crisis. It is my advice to the Board of Regents that will decide next year's tuition based on considerations beyond my own.

It must be understood that every student receives a financial subsidy toward his or her college education, but that subsidy varies greatly among public universities. In approximate terms, Arizona residents pay $2,500 per year for an education that costs between $10,000 and $12,500 to provide. It's time students contributed more toward the actual cost of their education.

When we think about the "fair" distribution of financial responsibility for a student's education, it is important to recognize that what is fair for one student may be unfair for another. We resolve this problem with financial aid based on need. In Arizona, we have very little financial aid relative to peer institutions.

Independent of the state's current fiscal crisis, I believe we should gradually follow the lead of our more progressive peers, increasing tuition and financial aid until we become more competitive. Our tuition should remain in the bottom third among the nation's 50 flagship universities, and our financial aid policies should make UA much more accessible than it is today.

In the course of the almost 50 years since I entered college, America has shifted the financial responsibility for public university education quite dramatically from taxpayers to families.

UA functions in a competitive environment. We have participated in the societal withdrawal of public responsibility for university education but have not shifted the responsibility to students and their families as in other states. Our tuition revenues for Arizona residents have not grown to compensate for the relative withdrawal of public funds. Instead, we have simply gotten by with less money for education. Largely because the faculty has been successful in securing federal research contracts in open competition, we have succeeded in developing a fine university despite the scarcity of educational operating funds.

There is a natural limit to the continued success of this strategy. If we fail to provide reasonable compensation for faculty who bring in the money that helps UA succeed, the house of cards will collapse. Everyone in Arizona will pay a severe price. We must find a strategy to improve the UA's long-term financial foundations. The current trends of our society tell us that our strategy must rely on private funds.

Now is the time to change our tuition and financial aid strategies.