Western Courier

Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Opinion

I read recently that the WIU Board of Trustees voted March 7 to increase all costs by a little over 7 percent. While WIU is eager to boast that the Princeton Review has declared it among the 100 Best Buy universities in the midwest, this trend in escalating college costs is alarming. Let me first say that I realize that WIU is not alone in raising costs. However, since it is the institution with which I am most familiar, I will limit by discussion to WIU. When I registered for my first class at WIU in 1995, the cost was (as I recall) $59 per credit. The new increases approved by the BOT have upped that cost to $215.20. That equates to an increase, in just 13 years, of 264 percent! Of course, that doesn't even count the $60.55 per credit student fees. And what about income over that same period of time. Well, in 1994, the year before I registered at WIU, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that median household income in the U.S. was $39,613. In 2006, the most recent stats available, median household income had risen to $48,201. That represents an increase equal to 21 percent. In summary, while tuition has risen 264 percent, median household income has inched up just 21 percent. It doesn't take a college education to realize that this is a trend that few can afford to see continue. I applaud WIU for its efforts to cap costs as best it can. However, considering the numbers, some might say it's a little like bringing a squirt gun to a forest fire. This is a crisis and more needs to be done. I realize uncertain economic conditions now and in the near future likely will limit the amount of state funds provided to WIU's operating budget and the university must raise costs to make up the difference. However, that can not continue indefinitely or students will soon be priced out of the college market. Either the state portion of the operating budget must increase or WIU must consider eliminating or scaling back services until more prosperous economic conditions prevail.

-Louis Getman

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