By Brook Rosenbaum and Ryan Anderson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 25, 1998

When tuition is at at stake, students need to speak

It's that time of year again. The time when a bunch of old people in suits, with no financial concerns of their own, sit back in their easy chairs and decide how much they want you to pay for the privilege of attending the University of Arizona. That's right, it's tuition setting time. The Arizona Board of Regents will hold its annual hearing on tuition today from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The hearing is designed for students and their families to give their input on university tuition, financial aid and other funding concerns.

University and state officials claim the process by which tuition is set is a complex one that entails consideration of host of factors. This is probably true. There is no doubt that they pore over complicated data about projected costs for various new and existing programs. They also must respond to faculty and staff demands for pay increases and plan to pay off the debt that universities accumulate for building projects.

Given the multitude of revenue sources and expenditures, it cannot be an easy task to determine how much students should pay in tuition. Given the process we have outlined above, however, it seems reasonable that the board and the university administration should arrive at a tuition figure that will allow them to meet their projected costs. It also seems reasonable that tuition could just as easily decrease as increase, in a given year. But if you believe that for an instant, then you haven't learned much at the UA.

Tuition goes up. That is its nature and that is what everybody has come to expect. This is not to say that tuition goes up with out reason. We just want to point out that the question people ask at tuition-setting time is not, "Will tuition increase?" but, " How much will tuition increase?" Indeed, the amount of increase in tuition is quite important. The tuition rate not only dictates what the university will be able to provide in terms of programs and services, but, more importantly, the rate decrees how much students must pay to come to this school. For many students, this is hardly a concern, it's just another expense for mom and dad. But for many others it forces the tough question of whether or not they can afford an education here.

Lucky for us, the decision of how much to increase tuition is not made in a vacuum. The regents, who ultimately are responsible for setting tuition, want to hear what the students and parents have to say about the issue. Students are widely viewed as politically apathetic, concerned only with their daily lives. Tuition is the issue where politics and students lives collide. Any increase in tuition represents less money for tutors and textbooks, or pizza and beer, depending on your point of view.

Last semester, students came out in record numbers to vote on a students referendum to create a student fee to renovate the Memorial Student Union. More than 3,100 students spoke up and voted down the fee. They saw the $50 fee for what it was: an increase in the cost of attendance. Well, guess what a tuition increase is? The same students who adamantly refused to burden themselves with a student fee should be equally concerned about a tuition.

It is with this in mind that we would like to invite every student, undergraduate or graduate, traditional or other wise, passing or failing, to come to today's hearing. This is the only opportunity you will have to tell somebody what you think about tuition. Let us repeat, just so you understand the importance of what we just said: THIS IS THE ONLY OPPORTUNITY YOU WILL HAVE TO TELL SOMEBODY WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT TUITION. When you consider this, there is really no reason for you not to come. We'll see you tonight.

Brook Rosenbaum and Ryan Anderson sit on the Arizona Students' Association's board of directors. The Arizona Board of Regents tuition hearing will be held in Harvill Room 211tonight at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.