The New Partnership will not lower tuition. Universities across the country, from Washington to Florida, have experimented with similar governance structures — with disastrous results. In Florida, a similar bill transformed the role of state universities. Instead of educating the state, restructured Florida universities became an every-university-for-itself battle. The universities waged legal battles against one another. These legal battles were being paid for on the backs of students with rising tuition.
The Oregon Health and Science University is often flaunted by proponents of local boards as a success. One point they neglect is that OHSU is the most expensive medical school in the country. This ridiculously high cost is because the lack of oversight encourages universities to undergo massive growth, while passing the costs of that growth onto students. For the University administration, this means bloated paychecks, plush offices and fancier research equipment, but to students it means higher tuition.
The New Partnership goes beyond the mess these universities made for themselves. It eliminates even more oversight and invites wild tuition increases and legal battles among Oregon’s universities. Students must defend the public oversight and accountability that protects our tuition, as well as the Oregon University System, which makes the task of educating Oregonians a team effort instead of a battle.
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