Student organizations have begun working to minimize tuition increases in the wake of a proposed $170 million cut to the university system.
The budget proposal released Friday by Gov. Jan Brewer will be considered in the Legislature this session, with a decision expected in March. Until then, students and community members see an opportunity to influence policy makers’ decisions.
As a first step, ASU’s Undergraduate Student Government is continuing to build on a school-wide tuition and education awareness campaign called “Arizona State University Against Cuts to Education,” or ASU ACE, which was started last semester.
The campaign is a two-platform endeavor involving students and local businesses, USG President Jacob Goulding said.
“This year we really focused on building more of a relationship with the [state] legislators,” Goulding said. “By now, they know who we are, they know about USG and they know we are concerned about USG dollars and education spending.”
The student platform is focused on teaching how tuition is set each year and what students can do to influence it, he said.
“One of the common misconceptions among students is the idea that university presidents are solely responsible for setting tuition each year,” he said. “The amount of tuition that both in-state and out-of-state students pay each year is determined by the amount of funding that the state Legislature allocates toward universities.”
The business platform involves talking to local business owners and getting them on board with the fight to keep tuition affordable, Goulding said.
“It’s a pretty complex platform, but we’re going to be working on this for the next couple of weeks until tuition is set,” he said.
USG has also been working with the Arizona Students’ Association to encourage students to contact their legislators.
“We have asked students to meet with their local representatives so that legislators understand that students cannot afford cuts to education,” Goulding said. “USG has been working with ASA to include students from Northern Arizona University as well as the University of Arizona in order to reach out to as many legislative districts as possible.”
ASA will be holding a training session for students who are interested in fighting tuition increases through political action from Feb. 4 to 6 at the state Capitol in addition to the annual Lobby Day on Feb. 16.
ASA chair Elma Delic said she believes students can influence the discussion on tuition if they pursue the right avenues.
“There’s approximately 130,000 students across the state, so there’s a lot of power behind us,” she said. “If we can really come together and look at what the state has cut from the system we can influence the decision.”
Former U.S. senator and current member of the Arizona Board of Regents Dennis DiConcini confirmed students’ power to make a change.
“Students will be involved because there are two student regents — one voting and one non-voting — and we hold hearings in March where students, faculty and the public can come and give their suggestions,” DiConcini said. “By that time the presidents (of the universities) will have come forward with their suggestions and we take it from there.”
Delic stressed the need for students to get involved if they want to see a change.
“Students need to hold ABOR and the university administrations accountable to assure tuition doesn’t continue to skyrocket,” she said.
Reach the reporter at keshoult@asu.edu
