| Approved by the: | Student Senate December 4, 2008 Administration - no action required* Board of Regents - no action required *The University remains fully committed to identifying strategies that provide adequate tuition revenue for the University without unduly burdening Minnesota students and their families. The University has done this by providing free tuition to all low-income Minnesota students, generating $260 million in the past five years to support new scholarships, and creating incentives to encourage timely degree completion, thereby reducing total tuition costs for students. Low-income families no longer face the highest hurdles in terms of affordability. The University is also committed to improving financial support for middle-income Minnesota students, one of the biggest priorities moving forward.
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RESOLUTION ON A TUITION CAP
Whereas, The
University's and state's average student debt is higher than the national
average which gives Minnesota the fifth-highest student debt[1]
in the nation at an average of $24,995 per student[2];
and
Whereas, Even
Though student loans are likely to go unaffected by the recent economic crisis[3],
students' financial situations are bound to suffer in ways outside of loans for
the next few years; and
Whereas, University
of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks acknowledged that "we're headed for a
difficult situation"[4]
in regards to tuition in the struggling economy and that he was "somewhat
disappointed that we didn't have the ability to drive down tuition more for
students"[5];
and
Whereas, There
is currently limited student input in the tuition process and there is no
formal stance to which students might rally around; and
Whereas, Students
must be protected from the potential hazards of the recent economic crash and
opportunist loan companies; therefore be it
RESOLVED That the
University of Minnesota Student Senate endorses a 5.5% yearly tuition increase
cap in order to protect students from the backlash of the economic problems,
limit the amount of interaction students have with loan companies, and to slow
the steady incline of tuition over the past several years; and be if further
RESOLVED That the University
of Minnesota Student Senate supports the 5.5% cap expiring after two years in
order to leave future flexibility for both students and administrators and so
that there is continual motivation to re-negotiate and improve the tuition
status so that by revisiting the cap, oversight is provided for students as to
the reasons for increases or decreases in the tuition thus keeping students
informed on the needs of the University and keeping administrators aware of the
concerns of their students.