Grad students think the additional tuition is an unnecessary extra cost

For many graduate students possibly facing a tuition increase, that money can make the difference between staying in school and dropping out.

More than 8,000 UA graduate students will either pay an additional $1,250 for in-state tuition or $1,500 for out-of-state tuition, according to the proposal released to the Arizona Board of Regents Monday.

Students working as full-time teaching assistants will receive waivers to cover the extra expenses discussed in President Pete Likins and Provost George Davis' Focused Excellence plan. Research assistants, however, will not receive this benefit immediately, Likins said at a Graduate and Professional Student Council meeting last Tuesday.

For the other 5,550 graduate students who are not currently working as graduate assistants, the tuition increase is an unwanted addition to costs many are already paying without help.

Pete Morris, president of the Graduate Student Council, expressed concern that a large number of graduate students not only attend school, but also have other jobs and families.

"We have to find means to support ourselves, so we are really concerned about this," said Xinhua Zheng, a first-year education psychology graduate student.

"I'll have to tighten my belt a little," said John Schwab, a retired Tucson Unified schoolteacher and first-year special education graduate student, who is paying for graduate school "out of (his) pocket."

Schwab referred to the many graduate students who live from "paycheck to paycheck," and said he won't be hit as hard as they will.

Despite concerns, some graduate students know administrators and regents must raise tuition to help the state and university.

"I think the state of Arizona is in big trouble," said Maxim Umnov, an electrical engineering graduate. The only alternative to raising tuition he can see is to "close the university and sell everything."

Other students, however, simply won't be able to handle the proposed changes, Morris said. If students drop, it will cost more in the long run.

In addition to the tuition increase, some graduate students are worried they won't receive any financial aid.

"There is nothing that comes without strings attached for graduate students," Morris said.

At this time, the proposal does not include need-based aid for graduate students.

Morris fears that without the aid, many graduate students will not be able to afford tuition, and will subsequently have to leave the university.

"If we don't get need-based help soon, (graduate students) will drop out."

Fourteen percent of the tuition charged to graduate students will go to financial aid for undergraduates, he said.

"(Financial aid) should be equally distributed," Schwab said. "I remember working those jobs ÷ Jack in the Box. I paid most of my way."

Through the proposal, more than half of the tuition charged to graduate students will be given to support graduate assistants. Morris is still concerned, however, that there might be a lack of acknowledgement toward the critical contributions they make to this institution.

The Graduate Student Council plans to counter the proposal at their next meeting if a commitment is not made to include need-based aid for graduate students. They will meet Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Picacho Room in the Student Union Memorial Center.