Opening up yet another university e-mail, I was initially disappointed to find a hidden message from Chancellor Biddy Martin—we're jacking up your tuition. They call it ""The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates"" when the initiative is to charge us more.
For obvious reasons, Martin does not want to frame her plan as what it is—an intentional tuition increase for students. There would be considerably more attention—and outrage—if this idea were sold to us sans the glittery, wonderful-sounding name.
Despite the unnecessary marketing maneuver, this tuition hike will benefit every Badger.
For a while now, I have been wondering what our seemingly aloof chancellor has been working on while locked up in her Bascom Hall office. This is it: a fair, well-developed and long-overdue plan that will increase the value of our UW-Madison diplomas. The administration is making noticeable efforts to gather student input and use it to mold the minor details and final product of the tuition hike. Through listening sessions, presentations and a useful, interactive website devoted to the plan, Martin has made every detail accessible and open to criticism. It is smart of Martin to make this a working, not concrete, plan. As a new chancellor, she is risking quite a bit by introducing this initiative, especially when her first big initiative is a tuition raise. But throughout this process she has been brutally honest. She is not just listening, she is asking questions and using our feedback to fine-tune her plan.
Martin's plan would upgrade two vital components of our world-class university—affordability and education quality.
UW-Madison currently awards the fewest need-based grants out of all Big Ten schools, including Iowa—the only one of our 10 peers with lower tuition. If UW-Madison wants to remain competitive among top public universities, tuition cannot just be cheap—it must be affordable. UW-Madison must offer more financial aid for those of us who need it if we want an economically diverse student body. The goal of this plan is to create more financial aid without making low-income students pay for it. Students who qualify for financial aid and whose families make less then $80,000 will be exempt from the burden of $250 more per year for Wisconsin residents and $750 for out-of-staters.
Even the fundraising plan is appropriate—half paid by the students who benefit from the increased number of professors, half raised through donations.
I am concerned about how the administration will raise over $10 million from private contributions for this plan. If not enough money is brought in, the only benefit will be a progressive tuition rate—students from high-income families will foot the bill on grants for low-income students. But if Team Biddy can roll up its sleeves and siphon enough money out of the pockets of all those CEO alums we claim to have, the greatest benefit will be realized: UW-Madison will be able to afford to retain and hire more professors, preventing any caps on popular majors like biology or psychology and making required Letters and Science classes more accessible.
In a time of economic downturn, we cannot depend on any level of government for money to keep UW-Madison growing. The UW System Board of Regents plans to cut UW-Madison funding by $174 million. The extra funds Martin's plan could raise are far from superfluous—they are necessary to keep UW-Madison strong. Students should not be denied a the opportunity of world-class education because we chose not to supply funds needed to meet demands for education.
Our administration needs to be more upfront with us and not sugar-coat tuition hikes. But this particular raise is not a necessary evil—it is a step forward. Good job, Biddy. Your greatest accomplishment as chancellor is no longer Strawbiddy ice cream.
Jamie Stark is a freshman. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com
