The UNC Association of Student Governments is collaborating with student governments at all 17 universities in an effort to repeal what the groups are calling a $200 “tax on students” that is included in the 2010-11 state budget.
Each campus is circulating a petition and soliciting signatures from students who oppose the $200 increase in tuition.
To view the petition or for more information, visit tuitionpetition.org.
According to Student Senate President Kelli Rogers, what makes the increase so objectionable lies in where the funds will go.
“None of the funding goes back to the universities,” Rogers said. “Not only is it making students pay $200 more, it’s not improving their education at the same time. We’re fighting it because it’s wrong.”
N.C. State’s student government is aiming to collect 15,000 student signatures to send to the UNC Board of Governors, the governing body of the UNC System, and the state legislature. Rogers said students should care about the increase simply because of the additional financial burden it places on wallets without benefiting those who pay it.
“I don’t want to pay $200 more,” Rogers said, emphasizing the discrepancy between class cuts and tuition increases. “We lost so much money, the University did, last year and this year to budget cuts. Our university is almost overpopulated. For us to pay even more and not have any improvement still, it violates the core mission of the University system: to provide affordable education to students.”
Rogers said she was especially concerned for seniors who weren’t able to register for classes due to cuts and now are unsure about graduation this May.
“Some students aren’t going to be able to graduate on time because of the funding that we have already cut from our University, so we’ve already paid in a lot of ways.”
Rogers said another concern is that financial aid won’t cover the increase in many instances, while an increase mandated by the University, which would benefit the University directly, would be 50 percent covered.
Rogers said while the petition is only directed at students, another one is in the works that will be sent to parents to solicit their input.
