The money we, college students, put towards our education is an investment in our futures. Some of us depend highly on Federal Pell grants, loans or some form of government assistance to make sure that we are able to afford this future investment.
With tuition going up every year across the nation, some students may be feeling somewhat worried or scared about the possibility of not being able to afford a higher education. Even here in South Texas, the poorest part of the state, tuition increases are a reality.
TAMIU has proposed a designated tuition increase of 7.9 percent for the upcoming fall semester. Let me assure you that we are not alone in seeing these increases; every higher education institution within the A&M System is doing the same–the only difference is found in the amounts of increases.
While we may become alarmed to hear that the tuition will again go up, it is of importance to note that our tuition is rising at a lower pace than the rest of the system. TAMIU’s increase is far lower than that of any other sister school; the rest of the system is seeing proposed increases of over 10 percent.
When comparing the percent increases I can’t help but smile to see that the university is not asking for a larger increase. The main reason that this is good news for me is because the area in which we live cannot really afford to pay all that much for college.
The Federal Pell grant currently ranges between $400 and $4050 a year (between $200 and $2025 a semester-not exactly enough to cover the all of the costs). This may seem like a lot for some but in reality it is not that much once we take into consideration how much books, housing, and other living expenses run these days. Even with a part time job, a full-time student would find it difficult to make ends meet and still manage to put a good effort into their classes. Sure we could all drop down to part-time status and work full-time jobs to help pay for our classes, but let’s be realistic (how many years would it take to obtain an education?). The more important question is: how many students would not make it to graduation at that point?
While a tuition increase is never a joyous thing, it is a fact of life and something that we, while we are students, are subject to. I think that our current administrators are doing a great job in keeping the costs down. It helps the area to keep the cost of an education affordable for the people that live there to be able to afford it-if not who would walk the halls of the university? (Non-South Texas residents?)
The only question that now comes up is: what are we sacrificing by keeping the costs at low levels? I want to know…
If you want to know more about the increases attend the planned hearing…check your e-mail.
These are my thoughts, let’s hear yours. Write to me at:
bridgeeditor@tamiu.edu
“Questions are never indiscreet: answers sometimes are”- Oscar Wilde