Administrators, faculty, students and alumni traveled to the State House Wednesday morning to lobby for USC’s proposed tuition timeout on the 11th annual Carolina Day.
University President Harris Pastides encouraged members of the USC community to tell their representatives to mull over the idea of trading more funding from the state for a tuition freeze next year, halting in-state undergraduate tuition increases for the first time in at least 25 years.
Since the tuition timeout was first proposed to the House Ways and Means Committee two weeks ago, Pastides said legislators were warming up to the idea, but there is still a long way to go.
“A few have signed on to say, ‘You can count on me; I’m with you,’” Pastides said. “Very few have said, ‘I’m not going to be able to be with you,’ but the majority have said they’d think about it.”
Pastides wasn’t alone in his efforts. Several Student Government representatives turned out to show their support. Student senate also passed a resolution Wednesday night to support collaboration between the university and state legislature to lower tuition costs.
“Since legislative funding has dropped from almost 60 percent of the school’s budget to only 9 percent now, the school has had to keep raising tuition for students,” Student Body Vice President Ryan Bailey said. “This is asking to serve students by providing an option for the school to not raise tuition.”
Bailey said these tuition raises were forcing many students to leave the state in order to avoid debt, adding that scholarships have not been increasing as quickly as tuition.
Several alumni joined current students to lobby for the timeout, adding their own educational experiences to the argument.
“If we’re truly going to advance and be the type of state that we want to be, we’re going to have to make sure that our young people have access to high-quality but affordable higher education,” said Tommy Preston, former student body president.
USC alumnus Lee Bussell said although costs were lower when he was in college, tuition costs now provide much more to students than they did back in the day.
“The $237 a semester I paid 41 years ago is a lot different than the financial situation students face today, but the cost of tuition provides far greater value today,” Bussell said. “I believe the value of the university is a combination of the students, faculty and alumni.”
Each of USC’s system campuses was represented at Carolina Day, and Ahmed Samaha, assistant vice chancellor of student life at USC Aiken, said she and her colleagues at campuses throughout the state planned to stand together.
“We are all part of the same system. We’re as committed as the others to have a good future for our state,” Samaha said. “We all have the same interest in the goal.”
In the end, Student Body President Chase Mizzell said the tuition timeout proposition had been received well by legislators throughout the day.
“There was a positive tone from our senators, representatives and constitutional officers as we delivered the message that students cannot continue to bear the burden of tuition increases,” Mizzell said in an email.