Most college students suffer from stress. We have to deal with long papers, brain-melting exams and less than cordial professors. Some of us even have to deal with the added stress of a part-time job along with our regular college coursework. But we keep going, keep trying to make it to graduation and the promised land of employment.
However, all that hard work is paying of less and less, and the promised land is quickly turning into a debt-ridden hell.
The Board of Trustee's recent decision to raise tuition is a perfect example of how bad the business of higher education is getting. They voted to increase tuition by an average of 4.5 percent for the main campus and 8 percent for Auburn University in Montgomery.
Obviously, the Board does not have the student's best interest in mind. They don't seem to realize we are the reason Auburn exists - not football, not parking garages and not fancy new buildings. Even the faculty would agree they have to have someone to teach in order to do their job.
So why does the administration keep making it harder for us to get an education?
Simply put, we feel exploited, especially those of us who sold our soul for a student loan. We live in a time when it is almost impossible to get a decent job without a college education. But there is no point in going to school if we are going to be in debt for 10-15 years and basically a wage slave after we graduate.
On a national scale, average college tuition is somewhere between your left leg and your first born, so Auburn is not unique. Inflation is the new god, and he is an angry and jealous god.
But we're here to tell you, it doesn't have to be this way.
Education is a right, and sometimes you have to fight for your rights. We understand that running a university is expensive, but it's certainly not as expensive as the Board of Trustees would have us believe.
For instance, if we were all charged the current rate an in-state student pays, the University would make approximately $450,000,000 every year. Remember, that's just tuition, not football tickets, housing, books or parking.
A flat tuition rate, or even a tuition cap, might not seem like a good idea, but something has to change, and we see these as practical solutions -- at least temporarily. There is no justifiable reason to continue raising tuition. Asking for more money for students is a sign of greed and hubris, not legitimate need.
Bryan Elmore, director of budget services, said "The money will mainly go toward mandatory state operating costs and possibly building costs." Mandatory costs include various insurance and safety regulations. We're sure you can figure out what building costs means.
We don't need granite counter tops and flat screen LCD TVs in the new dorms; we don't need to build more parking decks we can't use. What we need is to know our education is actually worth something, and an Auburn degree is not just a really expensive piece of paper.
However, the administration seems to be running in the opposite direction, a direction of high cost and no value.
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