Tuition is high enough and should not continue to increase
If you're an out-of-state student, then you're paying more than $25,000 a year. That's the second highest rate of any public school in the SEC.
Ouch.
So when USC President Harris Pastides promised in his State of the University speech to be careful about raising tuition in the future, we must cheer this move. We must also be skeptical and keep this university administration accountable in that promise.
It is inevitable that tuition will rise; inflation and energy costs rise. The cost of higher education rises. Everything rises. So it goes.
We understand that state funding for higher education isn't excellent in South Carolina. The lottery scholarships also offset some costs for in-state students, at least.
But when your tuition is already the highest in the SEC, you can't justify significant hikes. You can hardly justify insignificant hikes.
This university must understand its innovation and desire to drastically grow and improve must find a balanced equilibrium with the wallets of families pinched by the recent recession.
You cannot continue to ask for more.
Well, you can, and you most likely will.
But you shouldn't. Do something revolutionary, Dr. Pastides. Find a way to not raise tuition for at least one year.
It will create the goodwill and the good press this university can use.
