Student leaders should fight to keep costs low
OUR VIEW: Student government officials need to spend more time worrying about ways to keep tuition and fees low and less time voting on useless legislation.
While some 60 student senators sat around Feb. 5 waiting for university President Jesse Rogers to speak, they spent their time fixing spelling errors on the agenda that was projected on the wall.
Then they welcome Rogers with applause, which silences quickly after Rogers takes a fee bill out of his jacket pocket and starts talking about tuition.
The good news: The bill students receive in the fall is going to be better organized without listing 20 different fees for utilities, library use, the Wellness Center or The Wichitan.
The bad news: Tuition might go up.
Rogers tried to explain the bad news.
In short, the Hazlewood Act does not allow schools to charge tuition or fees for veterans or their spouses. To fund the Hazlewood Act, tuition costs might increase by 3 percent next semester unless the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Legislature find other sources of funding. MSU could lose $1 million every semester because of this act.
Of course, veterans should be honored, but since the act also includes their spouses, other students will be required to fund their education.
Rogers politely pointed out that the state already pays for 20 percent of every student’s tuition and another 20 percent is covered by donors.
Even the good news turned bad.
Rogers said the intent to simplify the student fee bill and not disclose the details of how the fees are being spent.
Now, for example, the student fee bill shows that students spend $51 for the technology fee, $50 for athletics, $46.50 for a student services fee and $24 to fund the libraries. Under the new system, students would just see a total and administrators, as Rogers said, could move monies around “as needed.”
Students deserve to know where their money is going even though the changes make it easier for administrators.
Rogers talked for maybe 5 minutes.
Then the student senators went back to voting on useless legislation that would have little impact on anyone. Instead their time would be better spent trying to find ways to increase administrative accountability, cut costs and keep tuition low.