When the ongoing saga of the proposed state budget cuts starts to make us feel blue, there is always one thing that can constantly renew our spirits: listing ways that ASU is superior to UA.
Last year, UA had a lower average high-school GPA for its incoming freshmen than ASU did. It also had a lower retention rate.
The number of undergraduate degree programs offered at UA was more than doubled by ASU, as was their number of National Merit Scholars. Similarly, the ASU women’s basketball team nearly doubled UA’s score this past weekend.
In addition, ASU had more Fulbright scholars and more undergraduates on USA Today’s All-USA College Academic First Team.
Also notable is the fact that ASU has nearly double the amount of students that UA has. Our neighbors to the south have roughly 36,000 students, 31,000 less than the roughly 67,000 students who are spread across ASU’s four campuses in the Valley of the Sun.
Yet, in spite of all of these assertions of academic strength, ASU students are somehow valued by the state considerably less than UA students.
According to the 2009 Fiscal Year Appropriations Report for the Arizona Board of Regents, ASU hauled in $479 million in state funding, while UA claimed $418 million. When the overall state funding intake of both schools is put up against their total enrollment figures, UA dwarfs ASU in per-student funding. Whereas UA’s state funding provides approximately $11,600 per student, ASU is given approximately $7,149 per student.
Long the bastard child of the state university system, NAU and its roughly 22,500 students also get a raw deal, taking in only approximately $7,155 per student.
So, we must ask, assuming that adorableness is not factored in, what makes a Wildcat worth more than a Sun Devil or a Lumberjack?
Thankfully, a bipartisan group made up of members of the state Senate and House of Representatives is asking the same question.
In February, House Bill 2246 will be put to a vote. The measure, if passed, would distribute state funding equally per student and would ensure ASU its rightful piece of the pie. No longer would UA be able to funnel a disproportionate amount of state money to its 31,000 fewer students.
Sure, in this current fight for funding, we’re all in this together. We — along with the UA and NAU communities — need to form a unified front to make clear the repercussions the state would feel from a budget slash. It would no doubt send the wrong message at this time to add insult to UA’s injury by essentially stealing a large part of their state-funding share.
However, at the same time, we need to advocate for fairness across the board. Every student in Arizona’s state university system should be valued the same amount.
Eventually, House Bill 2246 needs to be passed so all students — no matter which state school they attend — can be funded properly and in an equitable manner.
At this point, though, we’ll be pleased just to be funded at all.
