All I want to do is learn

Rising tuition rates bring to mind images of the Titanic: students stranded in a sinking ship with no lifeboats in sight. Caught between shrinking financial aid packages and class overcrowding that leads to difficulty completing degrees in four years, students are getting the short end of the stick more than ever. The Legislature and the UW Board of Regents need to re-examine their priorities and find some other way to procure money than raising tuition again, because sooner or later, students will find they've had enough.

According to the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, tuition costs are set as part of a "cost-sharing" plan where the student and state both contribute portions of the cost of instruction. In its February. 2003 publication, the HEC Board stated, "Cost-sharing assumes both the student and society benefit from having an educated and productive citizenry."

The problem with this assumption is that legislators, regents and all the adults making the rules seem to have forgotten that not every student has parents who have saved for their children's education, or that they are residents of the state.

Consider the out-of-state student. The average cost of tuition per quarter -- excluding room and board, textbooks and travel expenses -- is approximately $6,000 for non-residents compared to $1,700 for residents. Out-of-state students more susceptible to rising costs as residency requirements have become more difficult. They begin by paying almost four times as much as in-state students, yet their tuition rates rise by larger percentages.

For those lucky enough to pay Washington State taxes, the state is still dropping the proverbial ball. The proposed spending per student will decrease by 12 percent between 2003 and 2005. The HEC Board even admitted, "State funding per student in Washington State is significantly below state funding at comparable institutions in other states."

There's also the problem of financial aid being cut by the federal government. Way to go guys, you get a gold star for thoroughly crippling the degree-earning efforts of students who are working their way through college. Even with resident status, a student earning Washington's minimum wage rate of $7.35 per hour would have to work more than 200 hours each quarter just to pay for his or her tuition alone.

Better yet, considering the state of the economy, the options of using student loans as a way to offset tuition is akin to resigning yourself to years of debt. Unemployment rates are up and since members of the baby boomer generation are retaining their jobs longer, higher levels of education (beyond a basic bachelor's degree) are required to even enter the professional market in the first place.

When the point of attending college is to earn a degree and increase your knowledge (both critical thinking and employable skills), it seems ridiculous that universities are essentially punishing students for wanting to learn and assuming that their financial situations are capable of withstanding the burden. Those making the decisions need to think back to the time when they were struggling students and give us all a little credit. All we want is that diploma in our hand and we'll be happy.