"No" to a Tuition Freeze
DAAP Proposal Makes for Nice Campaign Rhetoric but Poor Policy

Although the saying, “the only certainties in life are death and taxes” does not apply for the average U-M student, a tuition hike is just as inevitable. Yet, despite the general acceptance of this necessary evil, DAAP once again tried to freeze tuition.

At first glance such a proposal sounds favorable to most students. Everyone would like to pay less for school, and students are usually strapped for cash as it is. However, upon further examination one finds that this proposal is as poorly planned and designed as any other DAAP proposal.

Specifically, at the same time DAAP wants to stop tuition increases, it demands more spending on many programs. For example, DAAP’s election platform calls for increasing grants and financial aid. Similarly, DAAP pledges to continue helping the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) fight for “fairer” (read: higher) wages. Yet, if DAAP wants the University to spend more on aid and salaries, without increasing tuition, something has to give. Tinkerbell economics might work in Never-Never land, but not in a world where expenses cannot fly magically away from revenues.

What if the University did stop tuition increases? In a matter of years the University would no longer be a top drawer public institution. Even by inflation alone, an outright tuition freeze would gradually but cumulatively degrade the amount of resources the University has to work with each year. Further, the University would have less funding each year to modernize its facilities, and keep pace with other top tier universities around the country. In a matter of years, our reputation could decline toward the level of lesser schools such as MSU or Ohio State.

Nobody loves to pay more for anything. But when tuition increases, every student receives more than they did a year before. Each semester all students enjoy new programs, new buildings, and new projects. That is what tuition increases pay for: all the improvements on campus. The unfortunate fact is that stagnant tuition prices lead to a stagnant, non-dynamic university. Despite all of its flaws, this school never stops expanding. That is something to be thankful for. Thus, a better moniker for DAAP’s proposed tuition freeze should be an “education freeze.”

                                          — Ryan McClarren