The value of an education goes beyond any dollar amount, but as tuition continues to increase at the University of Idaho and higher education institutions in general, money begins to take precedence over knowledge.
Students who have attended UI for five or more years have experienced a more than $1,500 increase of in-state tuition and fees. Students enrolled during the 2013-2014 academic year will pay 80 percent more than UI students in 2004-2005. A contributing factor of these increases is the decline in state funding.
Seventy-one percent of UI’s budget consisted of state funding in 2001. Today, 49 percent of UI’s budget is comprised of state funding. State General Account funding is less than half of an institution’s operating budget at every public university in Idaho. Tuition increases are essentially the only option universities have to offset the decrease in state funding.
UI administrators asked the Idaho State Board of Education for a 5.9 percent increase in tuition earlier this month. The SBOE declined their request and approved a 5 percent increase. The 5.9 percent increase is the lowest amount administrators could have asked for to cover the bare minimum of expenses, and without it UI will struggle to balance its budget.
Other universities face similar conundrums. In the last four years, undergraduate tuition and fees have increased 75 percent at Washington State University. Boise State University’s tuition will increase 6.9 percent this year. These increases can be attributed to less state funding in each university’s budget.
SBOE officials said they make decisions in students’ best interest. They often approve lower increases than what university administrators ask for because they want to keep education affordable. But what’s the point of an affordable yet lower quality education?
If UI’s financial future is anything like its track record then it’s going to be difficult to maintain the quality education students expect. At this point, the university is struggling to balance its budget. How can it be expected to give current faculty and staff pay increases, hire new faculty and staff, maintain buildings and the many other expenses that go into UI’s upkeep.
UI’s tuition is still affordable, especially in comparison to its peer universities. Students also might not mind tuition increases if it means an improved education. And if the SBOE is not going to provide the funding universities need to operate, then it should approve the only means they have of acquiring funding.
The tuition increases universities ask for, as a result of little state support, is putting a monetary value on education.
— EE