After several years of tuition hikes, college students in Arizona are wondering when they might catch a break. Unfortunately, the answer doesn’t appear to be in the near future.
The Arizona Republic reported last week that the Arizona Board of Regents is eyeing changes toward the scholarships awarded through the three state universities. These changes do no amount to good news, particularly when a good chunk of change — $366 million statewide for the 2009-10 school year — is devoted to scholarships.
Changes include possibly setting higher academic bars for students to keep their scholarship and a limit on the number of credits students take. Students would also be incentivized to get better grades, major in certain disciplines or graduate quicker by earning more scholarship money.
This troubling news comes at a time when tuition is at its highest point in state history and more students are graduating saddled with debt. The new incentivizing can be frustrating for students, especially when they are already expected to maintain a certain GPA if on a merit-based scholarship.
It also brings up the question of what areas of study are important to the future of the state. Some would say liberal arts degrees are pointless and favor practical degrees, such as engineering, while others would disagree. This encourages students to conform to the Board of Regents’ view for the state.
Furthermore, this evaluation of the scholarship program brings up a larger debate about the values Arizonans hold. Do we all pay a little more in taxes and have students pay less in tuition or do we pay less in taxes and more in tuition?
In the face of massive budget cuts, the state must do some soul searching. The decisions we make are a reaction to the current fiscal crisis we are in. The state must choose wisely because these decisions will have an impact that will last long after our tenure at ASU.
Is this newfound austerity the answer or is it a chance to conform the state government to a particular ideology? Either way, we are dealing with cold, hard numbers. We wish we could say compassion factored into the equation, but by the state constitution, our government is mandated to have a balanced budget.
Raising tuition and cutting scholarships is not a sustainable way to educate students, but based on the voting pattern of the state, residents of Arizona have decided fiscal austerity is the answer, and this should concern advocates of higher education.
The limited funding of higher education in this state could leave a less-educated population and less-than-stellar public universities. This comes at a time when the percentage of Arizonans with a college degree are below the national average.
If Arizona wants to live up to its potential, we must give a chance to all those who can do university-level work, and funding scholarships for students would be a start. But this requires a state that is willing to pay for it.
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