Stop Gouging Students in College

It has recently come to attention that your practice of under-funding higher education in the state of Missouri is having radical impacts upon students and staff who attend and work at the universities in the UM system. While the need to slim down costs of running a public college may be real and valid, the answer is not to continually under-fund one of the core fundamental cornerstones in America.

Higher education allows not only the younger generation to gain skills necessary to compete in an ever-increasing competitive job market, but it also allows those that may be older the chance to re-train, re-learn, and start a new career in order to serve the good people of Missouri state and the American economy. By continually under-funding higher education, the people who need jobs the most are now looking at large increases in accumulated student loan debt in order to cover the increasing cost of tuition.

Tuition at UMKC in 2009 was $3,362.84, (per in-state student) for the 2012 year it is $3,702.60. That's just over a 10% increase in only 3 academic years! Now there may be a proposal of a 3% increase from the 2012 year to the 2013 year to make up the difference from being under-funded. That would equate to roughly $3, 813.68, which means students would now have to take out 3% more loan money to make up the difference because when the cost of tuition/college increases, the amount of federal assistance for those who qualify does not increase. Let's not forget that the tuition cost does not include special fees, such as: an Applied Music fee, Applied Dance fee, Engineering Supplemental fee, Examination fee, Sciences lab fee, Clinical Nursing fee, Business Course fee, Studio arts fee, Media Studies Lab fee, Education Course fee, and a Late Registration fee. These fees range from $11.80 to $257.90, depending on the student's major. Also, don't forget about students having to buy most of their own equipment, art supplies, studio supplies, paying for copying (copy quota is only $2.50 per week, and not available in some areas of the campus), printing, and other things like food (to eat at the UMKC cafeteria, meal plans range in price from $2,629 for 12 meals a week to $2,943 for 140 meals per semester. Each plan comes with a minimal amount of “FLEX” dollars) and dorm rent payments, that range from $6,022 for a 4 person suite to $10,788 for a 12 month lease on a 1 bedroom apartment on campus. And lest we forget the parking cost for students that commute. Parking passes range from $110 dollars for a 1 semester pass to over $200 dollars for a multi-semester pass.

Adding all of this up, we get a grand total of $12,643.30 for a student (we'll assume the student is a Freshman) that lives in a 4 person suite, gets the cheapest meal plan and is taking a class (or classes) in Media Arts. If this student were to take out all of the available loan money of $10,000 the student would still owe the universitiy $200, if the student doesn't meet the requirements for federal assistance.

Asking students, the backbone of America, the cornerstone of turning the economy around, to pay more in tuition will only harm them. Please make it easier for students to get a degree, not more difficult with each passing year.