The Tuition is TOO DAMN HIGH!

19 September 2019

The Tuition is TOO DAMN HIGH!

University tuition is skyrocketing everywhere. But tuition at Arizona public universities is about the worst. The Arizona State Constitution says that tuition at state colleges “shall be as nearly free as possible.” But since 2003, the Arizona Board of Regents increased tuition and mandatory fees at the state’s three public universities by 315 to 370%.

Is ASU President Michael Crow tone-deaf on that subject?
". . . The regents arrogantly think they know best what is “affordable.” But they abandoned their responsibility to act as a check on the flagrant spending by university presidents. Since Michael Crow became president of Arizona State University in 2002, tuition has gone up dramatically. . . "
-- Rachel Alexander in Town Hall.com 26 Aug 2019
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"Fortunately, Arizona has an attorney general who isn’t afraid to take on this racket. Arizona AG Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against the regents over the tuition increases and subsidies to illegal immigrants, which has been winding its way through the courts over the last couple of years. He is taking on some powerful interests, but he doesn’t care. He is a principled conservative who wants to actually solve the problem of the student debt crisis, not just put a band-aid on it like some Democratic candidates for president would do with their free tuition plan."
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Opinion:

Struggling ASU students do not have enough resources

Low-income students need more resources to achieve success

"ASU ignores the needs of marginalized communities including working class students and people of color."

Photo by Angel Jimenez | The State Press

"As ASU students face yet another increase in their annual tuition, it can become more difficult for them to stay afloat in a rising pool of costs.
A 2017 study analyzed by The New York Times found that of Arizona's three major universities only about 6% of their combined student populations came from the lowest economic demographic. This demographic covers people who make $20,000 or less per year. . .
This struggling portion of the ASU student body is virtually ignored by the University.
The University is not providing enough resources such as assistance with tuition and other school related fees. Low-income students deserve to have access to the same resources that wealthier students may already have or could easily obtain.

President Michael Crow did not acknowledge the 6% of lower-income students from the 2017 study in his Arizona Republic guest opinion, where he defended the cost of ASU.
This comes after a lawsuit from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who argued that the cost of ASU was going against a principle in the Arizona Constitution that in-state universities must be "as nearly free as possible."
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Reach the columnist at amisais@asu.edu or follow @comradealexia on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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