Freeze Frame
The Legislature last week passed a bill that will offer guaranteed tuition rates for college students.
It starts in Fall 2008 with first time freshmen. Those are the kids that will be high school seniors this fall.
But there’s a catch. While tuition rates won’t change for four years, they include a built-in rate increase of 5 to 9 percent. Basically, families that opt for the tuition freeze are gambling that tuition will rise 10 percent or more each year.
And many years in the past decade, it has risen into double digits.
But tuition hikes are the result of less-than-expected state funding to our colleges and universities.
State Regents asked for $170 million in new money for the upcoming fiscal year. They got less than half of that, and much of it was earmarked for special projects, leaving campuses short money for critical needs like higher utility bills and health insurance premiums.
If I was a betting woman, I’d say the average tuition increase for the next year will be close to 10 percent at many universities. But I’m not a gambler, and I’d certainly think carefully before signing up for the tuition guarantee program.
What do you think? Will you consider participating in the tuition guarantee program? Let me know.
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