Over the next two weeks, UI officials will be forced to make some of the most arduous, disconcerting budgetary decisions in the university’s history — and next year will likely be worse.
After the state Board of Regents’ special meeting Wednesday, in which Regent President David Miles proposed a wide range of potential cuts, UI officials were tasked with crafting a plan by Oct. 29 to slash a whopping $24.7 million from this year’s budget.
Administrators could opt to lay off employees, sell assets, or levy a tuition surcharge, among other possibilities. For students, a potential tuition surcharge for the spring semester is the most troubling of solutions. A surcharge may be inevitable, but — considering the regents have not decided to increase next year’s tuition yet — the officials should pick only one tuition increase over the next year.
The “modest” surcharge would be a one-time injection of funds into the university, Miles said on Wednesday. Furthermore, the surcharge would not increase the funds for the UI, it would meet the base of level of funding for fiscal 2010. To diminish negative effects, Miles said, all possible cuts should be spread out among all groups within each university.
Students should not be immune from sacrifice in such austere times. As Miles said on Wednesday, the state is in the midst of “genuine hardships.” Any decision the regents make will affect students, whether it is their financial situation or class environment. Asking cash-strapped students to shell out extra money midyear is unfair, especially if we’re going to be subjected to another round of increases in the near future.
Students could absorb the cost of the surcharge alone, but an additional —and inevitable — tuition increase next year would leave students footing an inordinate amount of the bill. UI students are largely a captive market when it comes to the price of their education. We have very little recourse when it comes to tuition hikes, so it can be a prime resource for raising money.
Fortunately for students, the regents generally seem to be against a tuition surcharge, let alone two increases in under a year.
“I would certainly be against a combination of a tuition surcharge and an increase of tuition for 2011,” Regent Ruth Harkin said during Wednesday’s meeting. ”I don’t see doing both of those as being tenable.”
As the board’s sole student regent, Iowa State University senior Greta Johnson’s voice will be especially important in the coming weeks and months. She said she didn’t support a tuition surcharge, but students shouldn’t rule out the possibility.
“It’s hard when they’re paying thousands of dollars, but we can’t necessarily look at it one-minded,” she said.
Regent Craig Lang, who has floated the idea of increasing tuition by 5 to 6 percent next year, also opposed levying the surcharge.
In a statement released shortly after the Wednesday telephone meeting, UI President Sally Mason said it’s imperative “to protect the high quality of the education we offer our students.”
Mason is correct. This decision will be difficult, and the ephemeral decision-making period makes it especially difficult.
We are only in the early stages, and all options — even permanent employee layoffs — must be considered. For students, these monumental decisions will dictate the size of their bank accounts and the quality of their education. Any tuition increase should be a last resort for regents; two in less than a year would be unduly superfluous. When drafting university cuts, we urge UI officials not to place an unfair burden on students.