At a time when universities around the nation are in a financial conundrum and are raising tuition accordingly, two university systems are proposing the opposite. The University of Texas system’s Board of Regents proposed free tuition to all Texas students whose family’s annual income is below the state’s median, and the University of North Carolina system is requesting from legislature a freeze on tuition.

A study released last October reported declining tax revenues and the overall malaise in the economy caused college tuition and fees to increase an average of more than 5 percent for both two- and four-year institutions this school year.

Figures released by the nonprofit College Board, best known as the owner of the SAT college entrance exam, show that tuition and fees at four-year public institutions now average $4,081, a rise of 9.6 percent over last year.

In requests similar to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents’, the UT Regents have been attempting to take power to set tuition away from state legislature, which have prevented the measure by arguing tuition will skyrocket if the government has no say.

UT Regents are suggesting a plan, named the Texas Compact, which would guarantee free tuition to underprivileged students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average. The funds would come primarily from private donations.

Students who fall between the high and low categories of the income spectrum are opposed to the deregulation of tuition by legislature. These believe the proposal will entail huge tuition hikes, which may be feasible for wealthy students who can afford it and low-income families who will be issued grants.

“Certainly the families who just miss the cut off haven’t been overlooked. We are trying to work out some sort of slighting scale where there would be no specific cut off point,” said executive vice president and provost of the University of Texas Dr. Sheldon Ekland-Olson. “These are the kinds of details we are trying to work through right now.

“We are not sure if we can address this issue, but we are going to try.”

The Board of Governors at the University of North Carolina also desire a plan to battle tuition hikes that will distinguish it from other universities and colleges. The board is urging the North Carolina General Assembly to freeze tuition on the university system’s 16 campuses for 2003-04.

However, this freeze would not completely lower student fees.

“If passed by the general assembly, tuition rates will stay the same as they were this past year, but this doesn’t include student fees,” said University of North Carolina spokeswoman Michelle Williams. “This past month, student fees were increased at 13 out of 16 campuses. Student fees cover activities, health services and application fees which is separate from tuition.”

The plan to subsidize tuition is revered by many but seen as unjust to those who fall just above the cut-off point.

Although many believe Texas and North Carolina are working hard to provide equal opportunities for students to gain an education, other say the problem lies on the national level, and many students will still be left in the dust.

“The rising cost of education, in an economy increasingly described as a knowledge economy, is a way of pricing an ever larger number of Americans out of the American dream,” University of Wisconsin political science professor Edward Friedman said. “This painful trend is nation-wide. Obviously, more scholarship money for those with financial need would reduce the pain but wherever the line is drawn those just above the cut-off point will feel unfairly burdened.”

At this current time, UW does not have any future plans to offer programs that the UT and UNC Systems are urging for. Since in-state tuition is among the lowest in the Big 10, tuition cuts do not seem feasible or desirable.

“On the one hand, I think that equal opportunity to higher education is an important goal,” said Louis Keely, an economics professor at UW. “On the other, I am concerned the UW’s current budget situation seriously threatens the ability of the UW to maintain its reputation as one of the best public universities in the U.S., and perhaps more importantly, to continue providing the same quality of education that undergraduates currently receive.”

UW professors estimate by UNC freezing its tuition, the quality of education that students receive at UW will be negatively affected. In terms of the Texas Compact, they believe this is feasible, if UW can afford it.

“Though tuition increases are a hardship for some students, they do help to maintain the quality of the education at UW,” Keely said.