College Kids Want Their Tuition Raised (No, Seriously)

October 17, 2008 - 5:30 pm By CC Staff

College students in the State University of New York (SUNY) system are outraged. According to a proposal from their Student Assembly, SUNY students want their tuition raised!

Wait, what?

The unlikely resolution to raise state college tuition comes from the executive board of the SUNY Student Assembly, representing 427,000 students within the system. According to the Albany Times Union, the 122 representatives of the Student Assembly will have the opportunity to vote on the resolution this weekend. Officially, the state legislature and the SUNY Board of Trustees have authority over tuition rates. But the cry from the Assembly executive board is a loud one.

“I think this is a strong indicator of the state that New York is in right now ,” said SUNY Albany student David Belsky to the Times Union, “that we’re in such a dire economic situation that students themselves are standing up and saying we’re willing to pay a little more for a public education to protect the quality.”

The concern is that the SUNY system does not meet its fellow state university competitors when it comes to university spending per student and campus resources, and students are acknowledging the fact that they may have to dig deeper into their own pockets for a quality education. Currently, tuition at any SUNY school stands at $4,350 per year.

To everyone representing state colleges nationwide, do you believe your tuition price is fair? What would you do if a tuition hike was proposed by students in your state? And if there are any SUNY students who would like to sound off, tell us what you think about the resolution.

[image of SUNY Geneseo courtesy of wikimedia.org]

Brittney says:
Fri, 17th Oct 20085:44 pm

I really don’t know… I feel University of Michigan has a good amount of cash right now…. Even if money is kept in different systems around campus, there’s still change available to keep our campus resources up to date. But I don’t know, I’m not a economist. I just play one on tv.

Lauren, University of Michigan says:
Fri, 17th Oct 20085:52 pm

Not to sound biased, but I think the education at Michigan is good enough where they don’t need to worry. I mean, look at me

thestorysofar says:
Fri, 17th Oct 20086:02 pm

I got to SUNY and I’ve never fucking heard of this. We’re trying to make college affordable, not raise it… btw not all SUNY’s look like Geneseo (pictured). They’re like the SUNY honors school. They’re rich. or at least have some pricey stuff.

Stephanie says:
Fri, 17th Oct 20088:00 pm

Yeah, SUNY schools def. don’t all look like that- I grew up pretty much running through them.

Anyways, my tuition’s about 50 grand a year, so I’m not too partial to a tuition increase…

heather says:
Sat, 18th Oct 200812:38 am

i feel the tuition at my school is fair, but the FEES are not. the tuition is about 3500 but the fees are 2000. and many of them are for things i never use. like the shuttle. i can understand if you want to keep a fee for the nurse, since were bound to be there eventually, but to pay a fee for a shuttle i dont need is just effing ridiculous. those fees are over half of the price of tuition! give me a break.

Laura says:
Sat, 18th Oct 20086:11 am

Students at SUNY Geneseo are FAR from rich on average. Not to say there aren’t rich kids here – that would be horrifically inaccurate- but the bulk of these students are people who got into other top-rate schools and were simply forced by the economics to pick the cheapest and best option available (which is probably the case for many.) Many of the people I know here are putting themselves through college.

As of yet I haven’t heard of any people wanting their tuition raised, it is respectable but would screw many of us over. The story I’ve heard is that it’s simply being raised due to things like the impending economic crises and lack of funding – no one here has heard of students speaking up on the behalf of raising costs. Specifically speaking for Geneseo, there has been talk recently (mostly just rumors) that the name/subtitle is going to officially change to the New York Public Honors College within the next few years. If this does happen there are lots of rumors that our tuition is going to skyrocket. I see the positive to this, as as the title would support us in the long run, but the impending increase could be potentially crippling.

And while our tuition sounds shocking at less than $5,000, it doesn’t take into consideration the other ~$10,000 that comes from all the numerous living expenses. It’s still pretty damn cheap though, and awesome.

By the way it rains here like every day! That picture can’t be real.

Lauren says:
Sat, 18th Oct 20089:30 am

wtf? I had no idea about this. I totally don’t want a tuition raise…its hard enough to pay as it is! I go to SUNY Oneonta, and I’m pretty happy with the quality of education that I’m getting, I wouldn’t really change anything

SUCOgirl says:
Sat, 18th Oct 200810:04 am

I go to SUNY Oneonta and a tuition increase would suck. I pay for my own education, not mom and dad, so this would be devastating.

thestorysofar says:
Sat, 18th Oct 200812:52 pm

yeah, sorry i didnt mean to imply everyone there is rich, cause i know thats not true. but i know someone who goes there and ive heard about a lot of expensive stuff they have that my school totally doesnt. (SUNY New Paltz, btw)

Katte says:
Sun, 19th Oct 20085:40 am

I’m a sophomore at the University of Southern California. Um, $51k a year? NO THANKS to anything higher. It’s already ridiculous at the rate it’s going – the only reason I ever agreed to this was because my major is difficult to find in the United States. Paying for college is hard enough. As much as I want to improve the economy, I would rather be able to pay off my college tuition and loans within the next 10 years, not 15.

Meg says:
Mon, 20th Oct 200811:55 am

i go to SUNY Oneonta and I was AT the conference but I didn’t have voting rights. The SUNY Student Association DID vote for rational tuition increases. This does mean the tuition would be increased by something like 5% each year rather than having say a 30% increase in one year. Which is more reasonable? SUNY didn’t come to us and say ‘Hey, we’re thinking about raising tuition but if you guys don’t want it, we won’t’ and we were like ‘Omg PLEASEEEE make us pay more’. I have loans out just like most students and I am not rich at all. Just to clarify.

SUNY students: Maybe you didn’t hear about this because you haven’t been paying attention. Be sure to inform yourselves on these kinds of issues if they’re important to you. TALK to those on your student senate before you freak out. We’re here for you guys.

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11 Comments		Posted in News
		Tags: college, college tuition, david belsky, education, quality education, raise tuition, Student Assembly, SUNY, SUNY Albany, SUNY Geneseo, times union, tuition hike, vote

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