Mason Students Are Unrepresented as Victims of Fees

By Broadside Opinion Columnist Nicole Kukuruda

Seventy-seven percent. It is a big scary number. Let’s not lie, if you were getting 77 percent off all of your purchases at the mall, you’d be buying like crazy! But what if you found out that tuition is said to go up 77 percent in the next five years? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might want to consider transferring.

The Board of Visitors met on March 19, 2008 and discussed the tuition rates for the upcoming year. Although a final decision will not be made until the May 9 meeting, both Provost Stearns and Senior Vice President Scherrens seemed to think that tuition would be increasing for the fall semester by 10 percent. According to Student Representative for the Board of Visitors, Bryan Painter, tuition is projected to increase 77 percent by 2013. The funniest thing about the tuition increase is the fact that no students actually sit on the Finance and Resource Development Committee that decides things like tuition, and room and board fees.

It seems to me that this decision is unnecessary and unacceptable. Most college students understand that tuition increases slightly every year. We all get stuck with a good 5 percent, and we just smile and keep registering for classes. I feel however, like there is a distinct difference between the norm and the proposed 10 percent increase. For many students, this will become the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Imagine coming in as a freshman next year. In your four year college term, assuming you get out in four years, tuition will increase 67 percent. For many students, that means living off campus to cut costs to cover the tuition hikes. It also means not purchasing books for classes or maybe just not eating. My big hang up with this whole process is that the school just assumes students will take the tuition hike and keep paying. They assume they can just do what they think. They think they need to increase research facilities and construct a hotel conference center, and students won’t do anything. But the truth is that they won’t.

The students won’t fight against it; the students will do what they do with everything else that happens at Mason: They’ll complain to their friends, mumble about it as they stand in line to pay their tuition payment, and that will be the end. It seems that at some point, students should be more appreciative of the fact that they have Student Government to advocate for them, as so few students will do it themselves.

The finance committee of the 28th student senate, in conjunction with the legislative and government counterparts in the executive branch of Student Government and the student run lobbying group Virginia 21, are working to fight the tuition increases and talk with administrators to get the increases down and spread them out over a longer period of time.

Members of the finance committee, as well as Student Body President Drew Shelnutt, have attended budget meetings with the Provost and Senior Vice President Scherrens, and they have been scheduling further meetings to work with the administration. They are also prepared to go before the Board of Visitors to advocate that the tuition hikes of this magnitude do not occur.

So, when you’re writing your check for tuition this coming semester, compare the cost. Look at how much tuition has increased since you’ve been a student at Mason. Consider how you never really noticed the changes, but how you’re suddenly paying an extra thousand dollars each semester. When you do this, instead of grumbling and complaining, get involved in the process. Tell the administration you do not approve of the increase. Advocate for yourself to the Board of Visitors. Ask Student Government to help you with your complaint. Get involved in the decisions that dictate your experience at Mason.

Sources: most facts and figures came from Bryan Painter, student representative for the BOV and percentage numbers came from Scherrens and Stearns in their presentation on the budget, which can be found at: budget.gmu.edu.