Spring Break
Under Fire: Tuition
Should the Board of Regents be able to regulate tuition?
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YES!
Americans deserve the chance at a quality education.Therefore, if that means that a group of (overpaid) men and (a precious few) women from a university to have to make up for the incredible financial woes of our poorly run state, then let them temporarily set tuition increases and then later set tuition decreases once the state is able to make up the differences.
Of course, we all know that the latter will never happen. So this means that all the college students in the future will have to be responsible for paying tuition increases once the first domino falls.
I believe that the answer is to vote decent business persons into state and national offices who can dispense dollars responsibly.
I believe NT should cut administration jobs. A decade ago we had a handful of administrators -- today we have dozens. We don't need new organs, new pianos, more university dinners, more administrators.
We need new computers and more faculty members, more scholarships and more responsible spending of our alumni dollars.
For all the great things I have to say about this school before I graduate next month, I can come up with a number of bad things to say, as well.
I'll save those comments for letters to every one of my elected officials and NT administrators.
Our education has not the prestige of Harvard, but we are slowly and surely on our way to paying tuition that someday will be comparable to that of the Ivy League schools.
Robin Fletcher is a Mineral Wells graduate student. He can be reached at fletcherfletch@hotmail.com.
NO!
If NT were a private university, relying on free-market dynamics with tuition reflective of the true cost of a college education (more than $10,000 per semester, per student), kick the government out and let the Board of Regents do as it pleases.
NT is a public university. I believe what is commonly owned should be regulated by the representatives of the people and not a government agency (such as the NT system).
But so long as NT remains public, the state government should use its power to regulate tuition and keep the doors open to as many students as possible, so long as the curriculum stays challenging and a bachelor's degree does not become as common as a high school diploma.
We are still at a state university, funded by the taxpayers with a mandate to offer an education to enhance the quality of life in Texas and abroad. Now free of the perceived albatross of the "state university" moniker, our institution is developing somewhat of an elitist mentality.
With all due respect to our regents, saving our predominately commuter and working-class student body money is not their top priority.
I'm confident the administration is devoted to increasing the quality of NT's programs and enhancing its image, but the increased fees will not benefit the people whom NT is commissioned to serve.
Andy Hogue is a Valley View senior. He can be reached at creton4@yahoo.com.
