Author Topic: 4%, 10%, state legislators don't see a difference as far as tuition increases go  (Read 4982 times)

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Offline Sal Atticum

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Got this from our incoming Pres and Vice Pres at UND:

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We've been hearing some disheartening news from Bismarck lately. The 4% tuition cap as well as 10 million to pay for equity pay for Professors and Staff might be in danger.

Members of the Appropriations sub-committee have recommended that those two pieces be reallocated or cut from the state budget. This could mean a 10% increase in tuition.

So we need your help in getting legislators attention.

If you could send an e-mail that mentions how much debt you carry, how much you work, how difficult it is to pay for your tuition, or how you feel about repaying your loans after college that would be very helpful. I know a lot of students have a difficult time doing internships, and taking advantage of opportunities after college because of our immense debt load.

I would attach a pre-typed letter, but if you just send a few sentences of your own personal story it will have a much greater impact.

Here are the e-mail addresses of legislators that need to hear your voice: (please be polite, not all of them are in favor of cutting the 4% cap)

[email protected], [email protected][email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

If you copy that right into your "To" field you should be ok.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2009, 01:09:53 PM by Sal Atticum »
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Offline pmp6nl

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 >:(

Dont get me started.  When is the state gonna start picking up the slack.  What else are they spending their billion dollar surplus on?  Why not spend it on a huge economic generator for the state:  The colleges and universities.
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Offline Sal Atticum

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>:(

Dont get me started.  When is the state gonna start picking up the slack.  What else are they spending their billion dollar surplus on?  Why not spend it on a huge economic generator for the state:  The colleges and universities.

Absolutely.  If you're interested in the idea of higher education as job creation, try this one out: http://howtheuniversityworks.com/wordpress/archives/188
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Offline pmp6nl

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I guess its just the nature of the beast in a conservative state.  I read that article about students slaving away at UPS and I am still pissed.

---

That is a fascinating idea about stimulating the economy with higher education job creation.  I do agree that things have gotten out of hand with the number of hours students have to work, the wages they receive, they way they are treated, and things like non-paying internships.. which I think should be illegal.

I think it is time for a radical change like is suggested, but I am not very optimistic that it is going to happen.

I see student's rights being violated all the time.  Arent there any national organizations or anything that lobby for the students or actually help them?
« Last Edit: April 16, 2009, 09:43:07 PM by pmp6nl »
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Offline Sal Atticum

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I think getting students to work together to show their displeasure with the way things are going is very important, but doing so at a level that the college and university administrations will pay attention is difficult.  Sure, we could boycott the bookstore because prices are too high, and we could even conceivably boycott low-paying on-campus employment in favor off better jobs off-campus (only in some places though), but we're STILL paying tuition.

I'm not sure about that guy's numbers, especially concerning the number of jobs that would be created vs. the amount of money it would cost.  I like the theory though--only put the people who are qualified in teaching positions and you force people to hire those people who are qualified and force those people who aren't qualified to get qualified.  At the high school level I think it would be even better (but for a different reason, that being less about job creation and more about overall "educatedness" of the students).  But I digress.

I don't know if a national organization per se could solve this problem, because I don't think everyone could agree on a set of precepts on which to base such an organization.  A loose collective of some sort might be better, one that is made up of students at many schools that trades long-term goals, tactics, and results (precedents, if you will) in order to give everyone the tools they need without dictating for what each group would be fighting.

I would start somewhere short of leading a boycott against a specific university as a whole and go with symbolic acts first--a sit-in for true representation by student senators, a series of well-researched articles in the school paper on average salaries and work hours of full-time students at a particular school, the percentage of classes that are taught by underqualified instructors, why the athletic coaches are paid so much, that sort of thing.  After that, hopefully you'd find some more imaginative people than I for many more things that are incendiary, nonviolent, but effective.

At the same time, more outreach to the local communities is warranted by many universities.  Grand Forks historically dislikes UND for some reason.  Right now is a good time for UND/NDSU students in particular because of the flood, and we should be capitalizing on that good will in order to find more people willing to employ students, work around class schedules, and support student organizations (I mention the last because the Cycling Club is still looking for sponsors).

I think change is possible, but it needs to be from the ground up--start with departments, move to school, and then the university.  I've actually not thought of starting with the departments before; I think it might be very effective for students in every major to ask what benefit they are getting for the money that could be spent on real instructors rather than graduate students (graduate students SHOULD gain teaching experience wherever they can, but this should be part of the curriculum, not something they're income depends on).

Really, that's all.  I'm all over the place today.
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Mock and Schneider are on the case:

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Corey Mock and Mac Schneider, Grand Forks, column: Financial aid cuts promise flood of debt


By Corey Mock

and Mac Schneider

BISMARCK — If you worked a sandbag line this spring, chances are you stood shoulder to shoulder with a young person wearing a hooded sweatshirt or mud-splattered windbreaker displaying the name of a local college or high school. The region’s students — tens of thousands of them — came together to cheerily work long hours in the muck and cold during the flood fight of 2009.

It’s no overstatement to say that their efforts on the front lines helped save North Dakota’s largest city.

But now that the bags are filled and the dikes are built, some of our colleagues in the Legislature are finding interesting ways to express their gratitude to these young people. On Wednesday, the House voted to drastically reduce funding that would help make college more affordable for our students. Of the $40 million identified in the governor’s budget for need-based grants, only about $9 million remains after the House’s action.

These big cuts to student assistance are largely the result of a shift in funding from financial aid toward $22.5 million in new building projects that were not contained in the executive budget. Reasonable people can disagree about the merit of funding these projects this session, but slashing student aid in order to pay for them is flat-out wrong.

It’s an especially bad move given the challenges now faced by North Dakota students and their families in paying for a college degree. Tuition and fees have more than doubled at our institutions over the past decade, and to make matters worse, state financial aid hasn’t kept pace with this rising price of admission. North Dakota currently ranks 47th in the country in terms of grant dollars provided to our students. As a result, the average North Dakota family pays 34 percent of its income to send a young person to college.

It’s part of the reason why the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave North Dakota an F in college affordability — not exactly the kind of grade you want stick on the fridge.

So, students have increasingly turned to loans as a way to pay for school, making North Dakota a national leader in student indebtedness. About 75 percent of our students are forced to take out loans to obtain a higher education. Only one state does worse in that unenviable category; and for those with debt, the average obligation is more than $21,000 upon graduation.

Outside of the effect that this debt load has on individual students, there are also policy implications for a state that is struggling to retain more of its graduates. A monthly student loan payment of several hundred dollars represents another impediment to staying in a state where wages, though increasing, still are lower than the national average. Our state’s lack of focus on college affordability is pricing too many of our college graduates right out of North Dakota.

That’s why it is so important to restore the cuts recently made to financial aid by the House. Providing need-based grants at the level contained in the governor’s budget is a policy choice that’ll benefit not only our students, but also the economic health of our state.

Our highly educated young people are the future of North Dakota and represent our state’s most valuable natural resource. We were reminded of that fact as they worked day after day to protect our communities this spring. Let’s not let a flood of debt drive them out of North Dakota for good.

Mock, a state representative, and Schneider, a state senator, represent Grand Forks District 42 in the North Dakota Legislature.
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P

 

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