Staff editorial: Thawing tuition

The university should not shun the idea of raising tuition as a solution to the budget crisis.

As budget cuts continue to pummel the state, the university is feeling the pain. Class sizes are increasing, forcing professors to decrease the individual attention they can give to students. One upper-level Shakespeare seminar doubled in size this semester, going from 35 students to 70, meaning it can hardly be called a seminar. While university officials continue to slash student services and cram classes with students, an inevitable fact continues to be ignored: Tuition must be raised.

Gov. Martin O'Malley continues to be a champion for higher education but refuses to face reality. While former Gov. Robert Ehrlich  increased tuition repeatedly during his tenure, O'Malley has held firm in freezing in-state tuition.

We understand why O'Malley would want to continue the freeze. Being a governor during a recession isn't easy. Politically, his most threatening opponent in the 2010 governor's race is Ehrlich, who hasn't indicated if he plans on running. Keeping tuition frozen throughout his administration would make an effective campaign ad when contrasted with Ehrlich's record.

Certainly, families are hurting because of the recession. But should we sacrifice the quality of the university's education to fulfill a political promise?

No. A moderate increase in tuition needs to happen now. Failure to do so is simply delaying the inevitable and will make the increase, when it comes, more of a shock. While keeping tuition down increases the ability of working class and poor students to attend the university, a degree means little unless the education received was meaningful. In the words of Ann Wylie, the university's vice president for administrative affairs: "Access without quality is not satisfactory to us."

Doubling the size of classes and laying off adjuncts undoubtedly impacts the quality of the university's classes and the number of courses offered.  While access and educational caliber must be balanced, at the moment, the scale is tipping too far toward affordability.

Protecting state-supported financial aid from cuts would allow poorer students and their families to afford the tuition hike, while those who can afford the jump would pay it. The financial aid office must fairly evaluate the incomes of students' families and factor in the current economic situation.

In July, the university cut $14.5 million from the budget and is expected to cut another $4 million in the months ahead. Increasing tuition could easily make up this $18.5 million. By simply increasing tuition by $800 for all undergrads, the university would raise more than $21 million, enough to cover the current cuts and future ones.

There will certainly be grumbling among students and voters if the Board of Regents were to raise tuition. Most of the board's members were appointed by O'Malley, and 75 percent of the university's students — not to mention their parents — will have the ability to vote against him in 14 months.

But the administration, the governor and the Board of Regents shouldn't sacrifice the quality of our education for votes. Looking across the country, the dangers of mixing politics and higher education can be seen at the University of California system, which has been ravaged by that state's budget woes.

The time to act is now. While the needs for a tuition freeze were once necessary and reasonable, the time for holding at zero has passed. Further budget cuts could be just around the corner and the longer we wait to solve this problem, the harder it will be to pull ourselves out of the hole being dug for us.