A roundup on the University of California fee raises by the New York Times. Although the respondents’ own agendas make the answers at times less than enlightening, they are symptomatic for this day and age.
The University of California, which has already received $716 million in federal stimulus funds to offset a $1 billion budget gap, announced on Friday that it is raising student fees by 32 percent. That works out to about $2,500 per student a year.
Student protesters said that the higher costs will make it even harder for middle class and poor students to go to college, and will widen the education gap between the haves and the have-nots. But the students at the 10-campus California system are, on average, from far wealthier backgrounds than the average household in the state. This gap is pronounced at other prominent public universities, like Michigan and Virginia.
As they deal with tighter budgets, what should public universities do to balance fiscal responsibility and equal opportunity?
* Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, former college president
* Alfonso Trujillo, engineer
* Cindy Mosqueda, U.C.L.A. graduate student
* Richard Vedder, economist, Ohio University
* Jane Wellman, executive director, Delta Project
* Ronald Ehrenberg, economist, Cornell University
via Haves vs. Have-Nots at Public Universities – Room for Debate Blog – NYTimes.com.