News Highlights

Students remind area lawmakers why tuition hikes hurt

2006-04-09

By Robb Murray, Free Press Staff Writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN]

Photo by John Cross

Minnesota State University President Richard Davenport (center) met with area lawmakers Tuesday to discuss higher education funding. Several MSU students also addressed lawmakers, lamenting the tuition increases of recent years.

MANKATO — In a room full of important people in dark suits and sensible skirts, it was the kids in jeans and sneakers who made the strongest impressions.

A collection of area lawmakers had arrived at Minnesota State University Tuesday morning to hear what university officials and students had to say about state funding for higher education. University officials talked about accountability, faculty shortages and the mission of state universities.

But then, like a breath of fresh air, four young people reminded everyone what all of this — the funding, the programs, the campus, higher education — is really about: students.

Student Adam Weigold told lawmakers that tuition hikes — and there have been two since he started college a few years ago that have raised his bill more than 30 percent — are the equivalent of a landlord raising the rent mid-lease, or a moviehouse stopping a film halfway through and demanding more money.

"We're not demanding to go back to pre-2001 levels," he said, "just a little fairness."

Joelle Maggert, a mega-involved student who works three jobs during the summer so she doesn't have to work during the school year, said she's almost at the breaking point. Any more tuition hikes, she said, and she'll have to get a job and drop extracurricular activities, which she says are an important part of anyone's education.

"That would really put a damper on my college experience," she said.

Yvonne LeMieux, a pre-law student, said she works part time and volunteers at the Blue Earth County Sexual Violence Resource Center. Rising tuition is tough for her, too, LeMieux said.

Her mother is putting herself through law school and her son through a private high school in the Twin Cities. She also helps LeMieux pay her MSU tuition bill, but LeMieux must pay most of it on her own.

For that she needs loans. And it'll only get worse when she enters law school, where tuition will run her between $40,000 and $90,000 for a law degree.

State Rep. John Dorn, DFL-Mankato, was impressed.

"In general, students are listened to when they testify before a committee and when they speak before a community meeting," Dorn said.

The students lobbied for a tuition freeze, which looks doubtful. As it stands, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is looking at about a 4 percent tuition hike next year, which is tiny compared to the double-digit increases of the last two years. In fact, during the last four years, tuition has risen more than 60 percent.

Beyond the students' thoughts, lawmakers heard from several MSU officials.

Mike Miller, dean of the College of Education, told lawmakers about trends in teacher training. Harry Krampf and Valerie DeFor of the College of Allied Health and Nursing told lawmakers about plans to expand the college's role and the need for more highly trained faculty.

John Frey, dean of the College of Science Engineering and Technology, told lawmakers how they need additional funding to pursue ambitious projects, such as an on-campus wind turbine.

The lawmakers present - which included state representatives Dorn, Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, and representatives-elect Ruth Johnson of St. Peter and Patti Fritz of Faribault.

All agreed that the coming legislative session, where higher education was sure to get more attention than in years past, would be an interesting one.

"It's gonna be mean, nasty and I can't wait to get there," said Cornish, quoting a friend.

Email this article | Permanent link | Topstories news | Topstories news archives