With the great economic surge of the last eight years, everyone has been cashing in on the extra disposable income afforded to America's families. But the financial institution consuming the lion's share of the growth has not been investments or other capitalist ventures, as one might think. Instead, it has been America's universities deceptively reaching into the back pockets of the next generation.
Students today, at the University of Arkansas and all over the country, have to grapple with the fact that the cost of attending their universities is increasing at a breakneck pace. With a potential economic slowdown on the horizon, the economic burden that higher education has become will find its proof in lower enrollments if increases continue at the present rate.
From 1980 to 1999, the tuition at the UA has jumped 533 percent. While inflation does play a factor in the increase, the Consumer Price Index disclosed a mere 74 percent rise in the overall price of goods from 1980-1995. The UA's tuition rose 334 percent during that same period; the U.S. Census Bureau reported the average U.S. household income rose by 82 percent.
The U.S. Census Bureau further reported the average Hispanic family in Arkansas currently makes around $26,000 a year. The average African American household brings in about $27,000, while the average Caucasian family makes roughly $32,000. This disparity leads to some potential and current students being affected greatly by even the smallest tuition hike.
And while the cost of living in the area has recently been on the rise, there is still rumor of yet another tuition increase, possibly making it the fifth consecutive year tuition increased. Attempts are being made, however, to bare the weight of university funding on sources other than student tuition.
There are several different places in which public schools, like the UA, can receive funds. Higher retention rates are an option, and a viable one since the UA reported a 1.5 percent increased enrollment over the previous semester. Not only are more students graduating with an education, the university is making profits off of their recruiting attempts.
The University is currently interviewing a candidate for the Dean of Students and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs position with said intentions to hire the candidate most apt to take on the challenge of increasing retention.
The question that Associated Student Government president Eddie Armstrong asked Chancellor White last year still echoes throughout the student body: How is the rising cost of our education being reflected in the quality of the education being given at this university?
While in the last 20 years there has been a shift from the original mission of the University, its reason for its being must not be forgotten. In the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1864, signed by President Lincoln, the UA was established for the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes. It is imperative that the university and the legislature keep that in mind as they look towards the expansion or restriction of the budget for the next year.