There seems very little sense in trying to get water from a dry well. Chancellor Biddy Martin, however, feels otherwise. The chancellor released a plan, the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, that would increase in-state tuition $250 and out-of-state tuition $750 annually for four years. The proposal has noble enough goals; half the money will go to financial aid to needy students, while the other half will go into better undergraduate education.

My objection to the plan is not the idea that University of Wisconsin students will eventually have to pay more for education. UW currently resides toward the bottom of its peer group in terms of cost, but rather I object to the timing and the method of the tuition hike.

Martin believes the necessary funds for need-based aid and grants (that the university will not be able to cover from new tuition increases) will come from private donations. Private donations, however, come from philanthropic institutions that have seen their coffers dwindle due to an economic downturn unrivaled in scope and magnitude since before World War II.

It is indisputable UW needs to eventually charge higher tuition, but forcing incoming freshmen to pay $2,500 more over four years seems detached from financial realties. An out-of-state kid who needs loans to attend this university would have taken care of securing loans before the start of freshman year. Under this plan, however, that kid would have to return to the bank and ask for more money during a time when lines of credit have become notoriously closed. The rise in tuition should have occurred either more gradually or not grandfathered in currently enrolled students. Financial sacrifices to attend college are often painful; this tuition increase is rubbing salt in the wound. ?

When the economy depresses, the chancellor should look elsewhere for more funds as opposed to squeezing the cash cows she already has. What may make the tuition increase hard for students to comprehend is the hype the new Union South has garnered. The new Union South may some day bring joy and prestige to this university. In the near future however, the new Union South will be a soaring $94.8 million monument to crushing student loans and long-term financial depression.

Before signing off on another tuition hike, the chancellor should have attempted to think outside of the box. I am aware raising tuition on cash-strapped students or allowing the prestige of her university slip was a choice that placed our chancellor between a rock and a hard place. I think however a middle ground could have been achieved.

Economically tiered pricing. It has been implemented at some private colleges throughout the country and should be brought to Madison. Tuition should no longer be a single price for in-state and out-of-state. In-state and out-of-state tuition should be based on how much your parents (or you as a student) make annually. Tuition should be calculated so it is affordable to lower classes and allows people who can shoulder more of a financial burden to due so. This plan would make college the same monetary burden for all who enroll. While it may seem economically discriminatory, it is in reality merely an extension of aid policies already in place. Financial aid in any form makes some people have tuition bills smaller than the bills of their wealthier peers. Thus tiered pricing is discriminatory solely numerically; it is egalitarian because while the numbers may differ from student to student the sacrifice would become universal. ??

I urge the chancellor to consider adopting such a tuition scale because it will not only allow money to flow through the university more freely and fairly, but also because it would continue to allow affordable education to people whose sole goal is to expand their mind and move up in the world. The university would be able to get the money they so desperately need and students could see their financial wells stay a little deeper.

Max Manasevit ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in philosophy.