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Will Adults Join Students In Loan Reform Movement?
I was at an academic conference last Thursday morning when a lady announced to some sitting nearby, "Students have just occupied UCLA!" The reactions were mostly supportive of the actions taken by a generation of people so often demonized for what is believed to be widespread irresponsibility and nonchalance. It wasn't before getting back home later at night that I realized the magnitude of what had taken place only a few hours earlier.
About 100 Students at the University of California (UCLA), Berkeley, had seized a couple campus buildings to protest the 32% tuition hike passed by the UCLA Board of Regents. Next January, they would have to pay an additional $585, right before a second increase of $1,344 scheduled for the fall. With that, most--those who can afford returning, that is--would end up forced to fork over more than $10,000 next year--triple the cost a mere decade ago. Approval of this proposal had been all but unanimous--with the lone vote against cast by the only student accepted among the other 25 members. How ironic?
In no time, police officers, riot-gear-ready, had arrived on scene, equipped to take down any unruly, snot-nosed kid in sight--or the union members, parents, community leaders and activists who together formed a crowd of more than 2,000 outside in solidarity with the students. About 50 of the 100+ students inside ended up arrested.
UCLA President Mark Yudof, in a prepared statement, bluntly defended the hike: "We're being forced to impose a user tax on our students and their families. This is a tax necessary because our political leaders have failed to adequately fund public higher education." Of course President Yudof, who rakes in over $800,000 each year, failed to mention the $200 million his university recently loaned California--never mind its $26.3 billion deficit--with a 3.2% interest payback.
As I reflected over what should, but wouldn't, be universally championed as justified indignation against unfair and unprincipled decisions affecting the lives of an often marginalized and disposable population, I couldn't but be reminded of the adage, "A hit dog will holler!"
A College Board report released last month, "Trends In College Pricing 2009," found a 6.5% tuition increase, on average, at 4-year public colleges and a 4.4 % increase at 4-year private "not-for-profit" colleges, raising the cost of public higher education to $7,020 and private to $26,273.
A hit dog will holler! [...]
Read More: http://thedailyvoice.com/voice/2009/11/will-adults-join-students-in-l-002410.php
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“I thought we were different?”
When I lived in Japan people would often ask me to describe what makes Quebec different from the other provinces. Besides the obvious language differences- I would often mention that we had very good accessibility to post secondary education. The Cegep (system) has its ups and down, but at the end of the day you can get a nursing license in just three years for free here.
In terms of university tuition, Quebecers pay some of the lowest rates in North America. Increasingly there seems to be a trend towards increasing tuition rates to compensate for government cuts to education and research. Although this is discouraging on many levels, what concerns me most is that the push seems to be coming from the students themselves.
Even in Quebec, which has strong student activist roots, departments are beginning to look at charging “competitive” rates in order to attract top talent and presumably have smaller classes. Students in these programs such as the MBA at McGill are reported as saying that by increasing the tuition to 29 000 from 1600 students can get better service.
Business is already a fairly elite world, limiting the ability of certain students to participate in the program does nothing to help the social ethos. What program is next?
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