While it will be no surprise if the Board of Trustees raises undergraduate tuition for students not under the CMU Promise, the Board has hopefully discussed the implication of a high tuition hike and has limited the impact on students on campus.

Other Michigan universities have seen their tuition increase this summer, and more are to come. Saginaw Valley State University is the highest jump in percent, raising tuition by 6.3 percent. Other schools in the state such as Northern Michigan University and Oakland University, will set their tuition later this month.

Interim University President Kathy Wilbur told Central Michigan Life last month that three things will affect tuition: salaries, utilities and health care costs. While these three items continue to increase, so will tuition.

This is the second year without the CMU Promise, and more students are paying the higher rate. With these students putting more money into the university, and the possible lack of funding from the state, the Trustees should make sure to consider the needs of students before everything else at CMU.

With the threat of the Michigan Promise Scholarship being taken away, and CMU hoping to at least keep their state appropriations constant from this year, keeping college affordable and competitive for CMU students should remain in the forefront of the decision to change tuition.

With projects such as the medical school beginning, CMU will be in need of funding, and tuition will be the main source. Despite the prestige medical schools bring to a university, tuition rates that are too high will sway perspective students away from CMU.

If every university in the state of Michigan continues to raise their tuition like clockwork, students will not be able to attend college, creating an uneducated workforce. With the need for young, innovative minds – especially in Michigan – a workforce that cannot think for itself is bound to find itself in the same economic trouble the state currently is in.

While it’s understandable that tuition has to increase in order to keep the university functioning, the Board of Trustees should keep in mind every resource available when trying to save money. The university could be more conservative with planed events and slow down on expanding into new schools. Students may express some disapproval at first, but will quickly see the value of lower tuition rates.

At the very least, CMU should be as honest as possible with students. If tuition increases to a certain percentage, students should be aware of the reasons why and what other steps have been taken to ensure it’s the lowest percentage possible.

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