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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                  Matt Dulin                 Tony Hernandez      Jim Parsons
                Jason Poland            Dusti Rhodes           Blake Whitaker

Tuition caps put power back into state's hands

The state legislatures in Ohio and Maryland both face proposals that take aim at increasing tuition rates that, in many cases, outpace the rate of inflation.

In Ohio, Gov. Bob Taft urged the state's universities and lawmakers to support a measure capping tuition increases to no more than 6 percent per academic year, saying that "no Ohioan is denied a college education because they cannot afford it." The plan is coupled with another proposal that would offer cheaper loans to help pay for students' tuition and fees. In Maryland, a pair of legislators proposed a similar measure, capping increases to 4 percent. To pay for the plan, the state's higher education budget would need $120 million in new money.

In essence, these plans are a reversal of tuition deregulation, which lets individual universities set their tuition. Nevertheless, many Ohio and Maryland universities support the caps, which would help end the trend of public universities becoming increasingly private. Public universities are supposed to be state-supported and affordable, but these are becoming things of the past. Maybe we should not get our hopes up, as most university administrators praise tuition deregulation for its usefulness when it comes to balancing the books. The students' concern is will it become too useful? 

Tuition deregulation was an easy choice for the state two years ago. Now it's time to take a look at the real effects of the practice and consider whether the state should reign in increases or at least require that they be moderate over time. 

Tuition caps would put more control in the state's hands, effectively ending tuition deregulation. It's promising that some states are considering this, and discouraging to know that no similar effort is being pursued in Texas.

The recent decision to allow UH to increase the Student Service Fee past the $150 cap reminds us that the nature of cost is to go up, but not at ridiculous rates. At some point, universities will realize that raising tuition and fees harm the institution.