CU students face increasing tuition hikes

Tuition is going up on the Boulder campus, and this trend has many students worried. The tuition brings up several concerns. Will higher education be affordable? Is it possible to stay in-state, or will students be forced to leave to secure a good education at an affordable cost?

Colorado is 48th in the country for funding higher education according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems 2008 data. Less than 10 percent of the University's budget comes from the state.

Students and parents are taking the hit in their wallet. They are the ones footing the bill to compensate for the state's lack of support.

The tuition increase is targeting in-state students hard. The university used to be a bargain for residents, but in the past four years in-state tuition has steadily increased between 8.8 and 9.3 percent each year.

A shocking 15.7 percent increase for the 2012-2013 school year was recently put up for a March regents vote. If the new increase went through, in-state students in the school of Arts and Sciences would pay $1,203 more a year.

However, according to CU Regent Sue Sharkey, public outcry seems to have derailed plans for the 15.7 percent hike for now. But discussion on tuition hikes will continue in the March meeting.

The cost is pushing students out of the University. CU student Jenna Jacobs has reached her lifetime loan limit and must work full-time while attending community college to finish her education.

Not only are students leaving CU for community colleges in the area, many will leave the state altogether. The University of Wyoming will get 44 percent of their budget from the state this year, and the lower tuition and smaller class sizes are drawing residence over state lines.

University of Colorado assistant professor Elizabeth Dunn has seen her classes at CU Boulder balloon in size. A class that used to enroll 20 students is now up to 400. This, as she says, "is a worse education."

Class sizes are directly linked to how much attention a student is receiving. If too many students are in a class, students are less likely to be cognitively challenged and may fall by the wayside.

Education is not getting better with higher prices. The tuition increase just picks up state slack. The education still suffers.

If Colorado does not put funding towards the next generation of college students, they may lose some of the generation's best minds. This is an investment the state should not let go.