As Bob Dylan once accurately stated: “The times, they are a-changin.”
Replace the word “times” with “budgets” and you’ve got the idea for Alabama’s current woes.
Everyone in this state knows the education budgets are going to be slashed across the board, from K-12 to higher education.
We may soon hear words like “proration” bandied about again, words we haven’t really heard around Alabama since most of us were in middle school.
In anticipation of these proposed budget cuts, the University of Alabama trustee system recently voted to raise tuition for the schools of medicine, optometry and dentistry at UAB.
It also voted a tuition increase on the College of Community Health and Sciences on the main campus in Tuscaloosa.
After seeing their proposed budget go from $6.7 billion to $6.3 billion, UA’s trustees thought this was the best way to go about making up the shortfall.
Back on the Plains, no decisions about the coming year’s budget will be made until the state Legislature actually passes the budget.
However, rest assured tuition increases could be on the Board of Trustees’ agendas come this summer, just as they have for several previous summers.
Over the summers that most of us have been here, tuition has typically been raised around 4 or 5 percent.
While we aren’t happy about it being raised, those percentages are doable on the typical college budget.
For that matter, what have these tuition increases over these years really been going to?
Are we maintaining the status quo or have we been expanding and growing, using the extra money as a catalyst.
Have we been saving any of this money? Do we have a Rainy Day Fund we can tap to help defer possible tuition hikes.
When the Board of Trustees does meet to discuss this issue, we would ask them to keep this in mind: A 4 or 5 percent raise is acceptable.
A 14 or 15 percent raise in rates would not be.
In an unstable economy, where even venerable college loan institutions like Sallie Mae are collapsing and defaulting, what hope can the average students have?
We understand that with economies there are good time and bad times. It’s the nature of economics.
We know budgets occasionally get cut. It’s a fact we don’t like, but, again, it happens.
What we have trouble wrapping our minds around is the way education is funded within this state.
We honestly believe if you reformed how the education systems get their money, there would be far less problems.
We know we aren’t professionals at this sort of thing, but if a system is constantly breaking down, isn’t it time to look for a new one?
Until this problem is addressed, the problems facing schools now won’t ever be solved.
Things are broken and are desperately in need of repair, but Montgomery plays the role of Nero and fiddles “Stars Fell On Alabama” while the Education Trust Fund goes up in flames.
We dare defend our rights ... to sit and do sod all.
Our Policy
The opinions of The Auburn Plainsman staff are restricted to these pages. These unsigned editorials are the majority opinion of the eight-member editorial board and are the official opinion of the newspaper. The opinions expressed in columns and letters represent the views and opinions of their individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the Auburn University student body, faculty, administration or Board of Trustees.
