Posts with the tag tuition

Massive Walkout in the UC System

pdelatorre — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:34:34 EDT

Students, faculty, and staff at University of California system schools engaged in a massive walk out today to counter massive budget cuts to higher education, a 45% tuition hike, pay cuts and mandatory furloughs, and more.

Check out this video from UC Berkeley:

You can find the latest via twitter at #ucwalkout, and take action online by signing a national petition.

You can also take action on Twitter.

College Affordability Gets an “F”

pdelatorre — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:20:55 EST

Campus Progress Statement on the National Report Card on Higher Education

Washington, DC -- December 3, 2008 -- America has flunked on college affordability! That is the message sent by a report released earlier today by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education that grades states’ higher education systems by their affordability, participation, preparation, and completion. Every state in the US except California received an “F” when it came to college affordability. On average, college costs low and middle income families 25% to 55% of their family income after financial aid is considered.

This shocking reminder of America’s failure to invest in the next generation should spur students, families, colleges and policymakers into action. With the national dialogue focused almost exclusively on short-term measures to bailout certain sectors of our economy, Campus Progress believes that a strong case should be made for a significant, long-term investment in college access and affordability. An educated workforce is the backbone to any viable vision of working economy, but without a renewed commitment to college affordability America will continue to fall behind in the global market.

Senate to Vote on GI Bill of Rights Tomorrow

pdelatorre — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:45:18 EDT

The GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century (S.22) is expected to be on the Senate floor this week, and America's veterans need your help. S. 22 would make sure that veterans who served on active duty after September 11, 2001 have education benefits that measure up to the needs of today’s veterans.

Since the first GI Bill was signed in 1944 benefits have been scaled back while tuition has skyrocketed. Currently, it covers only 60-70% of the average costs of a four year education at a public college. The House of Representatives has already passed similar legislation, so please call the US Capitol at (202) 224-3121 and urge your Senators to support our veterans by passing the GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century (S.22).

Dream Deferred

pdelatorre — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:34:02 EDT

Brave New Films just came out with a good new video on the DREAM Act – check it out:

This is one of many short films they will be putting out on immigration in the coming months.

No More Tuition For Some Stanford Students

Jesse Singal — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:06:43 EST

Stanford is joining a growing list of schools rolling out big-time tuition-relief plans:

In a radical change to its financial aid program, Stanford University will announce today that it will no longer charge tuition to students whose families earn less than $100,000 a year.
In addition, the university will waive room and board fees for students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year.

Good news, yes, but this trend has been limited mostly to top-tier schools. (via reddit)

Conan the Budget Slasher

pdelatorre — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:59:49 EST

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just released his proposed budget for 2008-2009, and it includes deep cuts to higher education programs. The reduced spending is a response to a $3.3 billion budget gap.

Massachusetts Shows Up Arizona

Kay Steiger — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:49:15 EST

While Arizona is busy overcharging illegal immigrants for going to college, Massachusetts’s Governor Duval Patrick proposed yesterday that illegal immigrants be granted in-state tuition status as long as they’ve graduated from a Massachusetts high school. Perhaps suspecting opposition, Patrick is considering implementing the measure as a unilateral action, bypassing the state’s legislature.

CA Students File Ballot Initiative to Freeze Tuition

pdelatorre — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:13:13 EST

California students today filed an unprecedented ballot initiative with the Attorney General that would freeze tuition increases at University of California and California State University schools for five years, and to tie tuition increases to the price of inflation after the freeze expires.

The Next College Scandal

Thomas Coen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:53:06 EDT

The New York Times reports today that colleges have been engaging in back-door tuition increases through the use of student fees. Students have been charged separately for everything from library usage, technology, health, and energy to athletics. This has hurt students who haven't planned for these unexpected fees as well as those who receive scholarships that cover tuition, but not the exorbitant fees. At UMass-Amherst the fees are five times more than the cost of tuition. These fees are simply unfair to students trying to plan for the already ridiculous costs of a college education.

Israeli University Students Strike for Affordable Tuition

littlerose — Fri, 18 May 2007 01:06:23 EDT

When word started to circulate last fall that the Israeli parliament (Knesset) was interested in passing legislation to raise university tuition, Israeli university students didn't take it lying down. The proposed increases would have raised tuition from about 9,000 NIS (around $2,250) per year to about 15,000 NIS (around $3,750) per year--an increase that would make it impossible for most young Israelis to pursue higher education or face the choice to plunge themselves into overwhelming debt.

Where have we heard this before?

Before you dismiss the tuition as too low to matter anyway, take this into account: most Israeli university students begin university studies after their army service, and while many return to live at home with their parents, they are older than American university students and typically pay for all or most of their tuition themselves.

So what did the students do about this attack on access to higher education?

They organized. It began as coordinated hour-long and one-day strikes and rallies across the country, with efforts intensifying as talk of the tuition increase grew in immediacy. And for over a month now, all students at all Israeli universities have been on full-time strike.

Despite threats of academic repercussions from university administration and the arrests of several student protesters, the students have remained vigilant. Yesterday, the students rejected a compromise deal negotiated between the student union leadership and the office of the Prime Minister because it not only didn't represent promises made verbally in the negotiations, but because the students didn't feel it did enough to improve and protect access to higher education.

Haaretz reports:

"We went to the negotiations with our known demands: restoring budgets, the right to veto the recommendations of the Shochat Committee [calling for higher tuition fees] and restoring the Winograd framework for lowering tuition fees," said Itai Barda, the head of the student union.

According to the students, their negotiations with officials such as Oved Yehezkel, representing the prime minister, resulted in an agreement to restore about NIS 1 billion cut from higher education budgets since 2000, and this would not be linked to the reforms proposed by the Shochat Committee.

The Israel Students Union, which represents some of the colleges, has also decided to reject the latest offer. A similar proposal was made to the students of the teaching colleges.

The National Students Union has not yet announced a decision on the prime minister's offer. It has said, however, that the strike would continue as would the "struggle for rescuing higher education ... until its goals are achieved."

The Prime Minister's Bureau did not comment on the situation.

This is incredible to an American student audience. Could you imagine a nationwide strike of all university students until there was legislation passed that would increase the budget for professors and programs and cut tuition? And keep in mind-this is over a tuition increase to just $3,750 per YEAR--a miniscule sum compared to the average cost of college in the US, even taking into account the difference in average family income. Israeli students believe that access to higher education should be a basic right provided by the government, just like basic healthcare (there is universal healthcare in Israel) and national security.

What's even more impressive is that this isn't just a pocket-protecting move on behalf of the students. Another deal was offered early on to raise tuition only for students entering in the next academic year--and it was immediately dismissed and rejected by the students. Their aim truly is comprehensive support and access to higher education for all.

Unsurprisingly, this has gotten very very little coverage in the English-language media: even Israeli publications exclude this story from their English-language editions. I, for one, am extremely proud of my Israeli student friends. All of us concerned with student involvement in the fight for access to higher education should express our solidarity with their strike--and do so loudly.