Re: “Steady funds for higher ed,” Feb. 15 editorial.
Recently, Colorado officials have been discussing “higher education flexibility.” Many claim they are doing so in the interest of students and with their support.
The Associated Students of Colorado (ASC) is the representative organization for over 200,000 college students. We have a different story to tell.
We support the concept of flexibility in higher education. We support freeing institutions from state fiscal and IT rules, the creation of a “matrix of core classes” and improving the transfer of credits between institutions. We support allowing institutions to raise money and purchase or renovate buildings without permission from the state. We support most, but not all, of the ideas included in the “flexibility” discussion.
While we support making policies flexible, we must be sure not to make them flimsy. We don’t support giving institutions the ability for unlimited tuition hikes. Gov. Bill Ritter was right when he threatened to veto this measure last year, and we will oppose any proposal which removes legislative oversight of tuition.
Our representatives should not defer responsibility for affordable education. For years, we’ve enjoyed an open system for tuition increases which allows for public scrutiny and input. We should not sacrifice that process for politics. If a college needs higher tuition, it should draft a proposal and legislators should seriously consider and evaluate that request with public input. If legislators don’t like the politics of raising tuition, they should find a better option, but should not take steps toward privatizing higher education.
If tuition flexibility passes, tuition will rise dramatically.
The only thing that would make tuition flexibility worse would be cutting financial aid. Unfortunately, the current version of the bill does just that by removing the requirement to set aside a portion of tuition increases for need-based financial aid.
We hope our legislators keep in mind the important role that public colleges play in Colorado’s economy. We also hope they keep in mind that our colleges aren’t public simply because we say they are. For public education to remain public, it needs to be properly funded and properly regulated by our elected representatives.
Education is about opportunity, and we cannot and will not allow that opportunity to be auctioned off to pay the bills.
Andrew Bateman (mscd-sgapresident@mscd.edu) is president of the Student Government Assembly at Metro State and the chair of the Associated Students of Colorado.
