Tuition increase should help old, not start new

House Editorial

Of course it's headline news — the Board of Visitors increased in-state tuition by 5.2 percent and out-of-state tuition by an even more whopping 6.75 percent. Those of you who are graduating in nine days are lucky — you just missed it.

But, everyone else who is sticking around the 'Burg for another couple of years and next semester's freshmen will have to deal with the hike, whether they like it or not. The board has made its decision.

However, where are those millions of extra dollars going?

The board decided that the money will go toward adjusting the base salary of faculty with promotions, funding the state's required salary increase, health insurance and financial aid. Each is a very generalized category. Students would appreciate specifics.

The JMU Diversity Commission recently came up with a project for next year called the Centennial Scholars Program. The scholars program will give full tuition grants to 50 ethnically underrepresented students as of fall semester in hopes to increase diversity on campus. This past school year, JMU was 10 percent ethnic minority, which is about 3 percent shy of the national census. It is important to reach that 13 percent goal, but at what cost?

In hard budget times, the university barely seems to have enough money to reinforce the important learning standards that are needed for current students. Class sizes are increasing. Faculty and staff are underpaid.

Majors are closing left and right. The school of media arts and design, the school of communication studies, the Institution of Technical and Scientific Communication, art, political science — all of these are among the majors that now require extra measures to be accepted. Additionally, students must be enrolled in one of these majors to take classes — and even then, fifth-year seniors are left fighting for required classes.

Yet, JMU still thinks now is the time to bring in more financially-aided students. The board also approved of three new academic programs — an undergraduate degree in justice studies, a master's degree of education in mathematics and a Ph.D. research program for psychology. It is doubtful that all of the students vying for spots as an art major are going to be interested in justice studies instead.

The Student Government Association and the Media Board — both of which divvy out money to student clubs and organizations — have seen minimal financial increases in the past three years.

JMU needs to focus on increasing the quality of what it has before bringing in new programs and grant-funded students. Diversity and a new academic program are undeniably important for the university — and they look great from a public relations standpoint — but the bottom line is that current students are not benefitting enough from the dollars they put up.