OPINION & EDITORIAL
Demographics conspire against tuition plan
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by Ryan Masse
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Finances are tight at the University of Wisconsin — have they ever not been? — and the Board of Regents is looking for solutions.
The word that keeps popping up is “tuition.” Namely, the raising of it, in some fashion or another. Proposals are still in the preliminary stages, but one plan would raise tuition rates across the board while boosting financial aid at the same time. Essentially, the regents would implement and finance a new aid program through tuition hikes, or to put it in even simpler terms, they’d let rich students subsidize poor students.
There are two compelling reasons to never let this proposal see the light of day.
First, there’s the middle class. Too affluent to receive financial aid but not in a position to pay the higher tuition bill with impunity, these students will feel the squeeze. They’ll become resentful, and their parents — who tend to vote in pretty solid numbers — won’t be happy either.
The second problem is logistical. College right now is a seller’s market. The number of high school graduates nationwide will reach 2.9 million next year, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. With so many graduates to choose from, college admissions departments can be highly selective in filling out their incoming classes.
But that won’t last. The 2.9 million graduates in 2009 will be the apex of a 15-year climb, followed by a steady decline, lasting through at least 2015. Faced with fewer applicants in the years ahead, admissions officers will become less picky. UW won’t be exempted.
Raising prices at a time when demand is diminishing is seldom a formula for success. Yet that’s the environment UW’s tuition hike would be operating in.
And there’s more: The decline in high school graduates will not be uniform. There will be fewer graduates in the Northeast and the Midwest — read: Wisconsin — while high schools in the South and Southwest will produce more graduates. Meanwhile, the number of affluent high school graduates will decline, while lower-income graduates will increase.
Low-income students have been less apt to attend college in the past, but colleges and universities will need to target these students in the near future if they hope to augment the decline in admissions from other parts of the population. Indeed, UW is already doing this through its Growth Agenda.
Many of these less-affluent students will naturally require increased financial aid. And the regents would oblige, if they were to adopt the proposal mentioned above. The funding for this would come directly from the increased tuition payments by high-income students.
Yet the supply of these more well-off students willing and able to pay ever-exorbitant tuition bills is shrinking. UW would have a major funding liability on its hands. It would be like Congress subsidizing a nationwide high-speed Internet infrastructure by imposing a tax on dial-up modems. It simply won’t work.
In a sense, UW would find itself in a situation not dissimilar from the Social Security Administration, hamstrung by a demographic profile that will soon result in expenditures exceeding payroll contributions. UW could well be forced to raise tuition even further, which would only encourage richer students to enroll in private schools.
In the quest for revenue, UW has other options, though none easy. The regents have talked about raising tuition at some campuses and lowering it at others. This is obviously already happening, though, and students won’t be happy if too much of their tuition is subsidizing kids at other schools.
UW could ask for more state aid. But the state coffers are stretched about as thin as can be, as the Legislature’s special session on the budget indicates.
It could seek more private donations. The UW Faculty Senate recently announced a new fund for financial aid.
Or, heaven forbid, UW could consider cutting costs. Dump redundant administrative posts. Help ease the financial burden on students by allowing students to opt out of allocable segregated fees. Why does a student who can barely afford to attend UW have to fund narrow-interest groups he or she wants no part of?
The worst decision would be to make college more affordable for some students by making it less so for others. That’s counterintuitive, and given demographic projections, not even feasible.
Ryan Masse (rmasse@badgerherald.com) is a first-year law student.
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 6:58am):
"Help ease the financial burden on students by allowing students to opt out of allocable segregated fees. Why does a student who can barely afford to attend UW have to fund narrow-interest groups he or she wants no part of?"
Statement of the week!
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 8:37am):
There is financial "aid" for the middle class: student loans. The middle-class have enough income and credit rating to qualify for loans.
This isn't a solution, folks. Shackling 22-year-olds with $30K in debt is not the way to a better tomorrow.
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 9:46am):
"Help ease the financial burden on students by allowing students to opt out of allocable segregated fees."
Awesome. I'm sure that $80 is make-or-break for the kid from Milwaukee.
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 9:57am):
EVERYTHING "screws middle class".
That's why the middle class is getting squeezed out of existance. Big case of "too bad" but there it is.
frank rojas (March 13, 2008 @ 10:28am):
In case you have not noticed the UW has been cutting costs everywhere it can for a decade or more. Why do you think a number of major departments have lost many of their top professors in the last few years? UW has one of the lowest tuitions in the Big Ten. You are out of touch with reality and uninformed. Go study the matter and stop making ridiculous assertions.
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 12:57pm):
Don't we need to know what the income range of families with students in the system. Then, don't we need to know who counts as middle class? Then, perhaps recommendations could be made about tuition costs for income ranges. Until then, we don't know if the "middle class" might be squeezed or not by these proposals.
This article was significantly under-researched.
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 2:40pm):
For once I actually agree with you Ryan. Weekend forecast in hell: Freezing temperatures.
Anonymous (March 13, 2008 @ 4:09pm):
"Help ease the financial burden on students by allowing students to opt out of allocable segregated fees. Why does a student who can barely afford to attend UW have to fund narrow-interest groups he or she wants no part of?"
A nice idea, but unfortunately the answer to your question is very simple. Refer to the US Supreme Court decision in Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth (aka the Southworth case).
This case upheld the UW's mandatory student segregated fee for all students as long as the funds are distributed in a "viewpoint neutral" manner.
Seg fees are here to stay.
Anonymous (March 14, 2008 @ 3:37pm):
Opting out of allocable seg fees will save you approx $16 per semester. Do some research.
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