We’re not Harvard
Tuition is only going up 3 percent this year, as opposed to the usual 5 percent, because of the troubled economy. Surely all of us students should be down our knees genuflecting to the magnanimous gods of Gibson who are granting us this small mercy. But somehow it’s difficult for us to believe the administration cares that much about students whose parents have lost their jobs or retirement funds, or who now have more difficulty in obtaining student loans. Tuition increased from $22,590 in 1999 to $31,900 in 2007 and is currently $37,200. Students and parents obviously expect the cost of tuition to have increased since 1990, but the real surprise is how drastically it has increased in just four years.
For seniors who began attending Tulane in the Fall 2006 semester, tuition was $31,900. With a partial scholarship from the university, it might be doable for a middle class student. But for the 2009-2010 academic year, tuition costs $37,200. That scholarship sure didn’t increase along with the cost of tuition, and those helpful parents are now barely able to pay their own bills. Despite what the administration and delusional pundits and politicians who think the recession is ending think, it’s not. And it’s not some new phenomenon that is just now affecting students; it has been affecting them for years already. What would really help students is not decreasing the percentage of the increase, but freezing it altogether.
In addition to its adverse effects on current Tulane students, the tuition increase will have a negative impact on prospective students as well. Though Gibson promotes diversity on campus, Tulane’s reputation as an elitist school filled of affluent white kids is not unfounded. That 3 percent increase — or more likely the potential 20 percent increase over four years — could be what prevents a highly academically qualified but financially disadvantaged prospective student from attending Tulane. Though there is financial aid available for students in need, it is not often sufficient. Gibson touted this year’s freshman class as the best ever, but is it really as good as it could be when we are excluding great potential students who can’t afford the hefty cost of becoming part of the Green Wave?
Students and administrators alike proudly call Tulane the “Harvard of the South,” but Tulane is not Harvard, and should not carry a Harvard price tag. Besides, there are definitely a few Tulane students who would trade the McAlister Place project for a few dollars off their bill.