Writing to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, junior art major Julia Damon joins other students in urging the governor to support a tuition freeze and a tuition equity bill.
The Oregon Student Association, the Oregon Students of Color Coalition and the ASUO sponsored a letter-writing campaign Thursday to urge Gov. Ted Kulongoski to support a tuition freeze and a tuition equity bill.
A tuition freeze would mandate that tuition rates stay at current levels without cutting programs or services. According to the OSA, such a freeze would cost an additional $55 million.
The ASUO collected 157 letters, surpassing its original goal of 60 letters.
OSA Director John Wykoff said that letter-writing is one of the more effective campaigning tactics.
“The legislature knows if you took the time to write a letter then you’re probably going to take time to vote,” he said.
ASUO State Affairs Coordinator Amy DuFour said letter-writing has benefits for a student’s psyche.
“It makes students feel better too because they’re able to voice their concerns and their personal experiences,” she said.
University student Melinda vonReis-Iglesias shared her struggle to cover rising tuition rates in her letter to the governor.
“It’s becoming difficult not only to pay for tuition but for books and living expenses, too,” she said.
The second issue students addressed in their letters was the tuition equity bill. The newest tuition equity bill would allow students who went to high school in Oregon for three years to pay in-state tuition, regardless of their immigration status. Currently, students who are not citizens have to pay out-of-state tuition. The Oregon Student Association reported that such a bill could affect anywhere from 20 to 300 students statewide. Last year, a similar bill failed when the Senate and the House disagreed with it.
ASUO Programs Finance Committee member Jael Anker-Lagos said she’s heard of non-citizen students who could not pay out-of-state tuition.
“I’ve heard of students who have dropped out of high school because they know they can’t continue their education,” she said.
Wykoff said the financial situation for these students is often especially dire.
“These are often families that are having trouble getting by,” he said. “These (students) are people with promising futures that are told to stop hoping.”
Anker-Lagos added that such a bill would benefit the entire student community, as it would
increase the number of students who are not citizens on campus.
“(Students’) environment and culture would be enhanced,” she said.
Wykoff said he was hopeful about the
campaign but added that it would be difficult to pass a tuition freeze.
“I think that it’s definitely a challenge, but I think it recognizes that we can no longer afford to fund higher education on the backs of students,” he said.
The last mandated tuition freeze passed in 1999 and was effective through 2001. The lobbying efforts of OSA helped pass the bill.
However, with the state in a budget crunch, University administrators have said tuition is likely to continue increasing to try to mitigate the shortfall. This summer the State Board of Higher Education recommended a 5 percent tuition increase for each year of the 2005-2007 biennium; the board will make final approvals to tuition increases by summer 2005. University Vice President and Vice Provost John Moseley said the tuition increases instituted this fall were necessary to maintain course availability and other student services, according to a June 7, 2004 Emerald article.
VonReis-Iglesias called the rising tuition rates “ridiculous,” and said she hoped a tuition freeze passed.
“(The governor) should understand that students need an education to be successful,” she said. “I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want everyone to have that opportunity.”
