A California state senator has introduced a bill that would put a 10-percent cap on tuition and fee increases at the state’s public universities, as well as requiring a 180-day waiting period before any increases could take effect. The senator—Jeff Denham, a Republican—held a news conference Friday at the University of California at Merced to announce the bill, which he named the Student Protection Act. He said he had prepared the legislation because students “need to be protected from sudden, unexpected, and excessive fees and tuition increases.”
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3 Responses to Calif. Bill Would Cap Public University Tuition and Fee Increases
11242283 - February 1, 2010 at 6:38 am
Just what CA needs — another legislative mandate to circumscribe its budget!! Can’t agree more that CA students need protection from “sudden, unexpected and excessive fees” but State Senator Denham might look in the mirror (and at his colleagues in the Republican caucus) to get a clue as to why these have been necessary. Had our legislature not pulled the rug out from under higher ed in the state (ably assisted, I might add by our governor and the stupid excesses of UC and CSU execs)the very fee increases he denounces might not be necessary. I love Republicans who are for freedom and against government — and who insist that the poor must pay their own way without government help, but the first time the market acts to establish a real, unsubsidized price for higher education, the Republicans jump in and try to establish price controls to protect their middle class constituents.While I personally believe that CA should subsidize tuitions and keep them as low as possible, it has failed to do so. Therefore, I believe CA colleges and universities have no choice but to price their product closer to what it actually costs to do the job. And please, no letters about pampered highly paid faculty. In the CSU, my wages are well below peer institutions, I work a 4-4 teaching load and I have 160+ students each semester (no graders or T.A.s). It’s small wonder I manage to read anything, let alone write.
smcdonald999 - February 1, 2010 at 10:41 am
#1 says that CA colleges have no choice but to price their product closer to what it actually costs to do the job. But why does it cost to do the job keep rising every year on an inflation adjusted basis. Are the students coming out smarter or something? Because if not, universities have been experiencing steady declines in productivity for the last two decades, a trend which is having a corrosive effect on our economy and on the financial well being of heavily-debt-laden students. I certainly agree that caps are not the answer because, like subsidies, they rely on the government to fix something the colleges should fix themselves. Here’s one quick suggestion, rather then employ so many underpaid, overworked, and disgruntled educators to lecture students, why not broadcast recordings of the best-rated, motivated and happy educators in the country. Programs like Michael Sandel’s Justice, for example, are so much more engaging then the average lecturer, its hard to imagine why universities don’t already use this method for teaching. Certainly more engaged students will lead to better learning outcomes at a lower price.
11242283 - February 1, 2010 at 4:04 pm
For the record, I think Michael Sandel’s series is terrific; however, how does just watching it guarantee you learn or understand what he’s talking about? What, on viewing it, no one will have question? But if someone does, who will answer it? And who will help students improve their writing skills, etc. Believe you me, even Harvard students need help with that. MS might be a great (& entertaining) mind worth listening to, but being a great lecturer isn’t necessarily the same thing as being a great teacher. That’s why the model #2 advocates hasn’t caught on for university teaching. We could easily pipe in great lecturers (although a fair number of our own faculty can be classified as such —– don’t assume that not being at Harvard somehow means automatically “second rate”) but what then?????