For the past two weeks, student protests have rocked the University of California. These marches and sit-ins follow a decision by the University of California Board of Regents to raise tuition by 32 percent for the next school year, a move which itself was prompted by $800 million in budget cuts to the University of California system by the state. With numerous states facing similar budget difficulties, it is reasonable for UW-Madison students to wonder if they will be the next to see their tuition raise by a third.
Fortunately, this university will not be seeing the same difficulties as UC-Berkeley or UCLA in the next year. With the budget signed, sealed and delivered for the next biennium, university funding should be relatively secure until 2011. And that does not even take into account that UW-Madison's tuition is somewhat of a steal as it is now. Despite the increased costs brought about by Chancellor Biddy Martin's Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, UW-Madison still has one of the cheapest tuition rates in the Big Ten. Compared to peer institutions like the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois, you get a lot more bang for your buck going to school in Madison than Minneapolis or Urbana-Champaign.
However, even with this comparatively low cost, a rise in tuition comparable to that of the University of California system would definitely hurt countless Wisconsin students. Not only would some of the state's best students no longer be able to afford to attend a top-tier in-state university like UW-Madison, but many students at lower-priced UW system schools would find themselves unable to afford a college education at all. The state's goal should always be to educate as many qualified individuals as possible. Cuts like those seen in California would be a giant step backward from achieving this goal. This is why the state should be looking ahead for ways to avoid these kind of budgetary crises and step out of the path of the freight train that just rammed into the Golden State.
For this reason, we turn our eyes and ears to the 2010 gubernatorial candidates. When the next budget cycle rolls around, the fate of university funding will be on the shoulders of Gov. Doyle's successor. So far, we have heard nothing from Scott Walker, Mark Neumann or Tom Barrett in regard to how they will serve the students of Wisconsin. Even the 18-year-old kid in the race, Jared Christiansen has stayed mum on the issue. Granted, the candidates have not really said anything substantive on almost any topic, but the California budget crisis shows that we cannot simply stand by and wait for the problem to occur.
We need plans from these men in the face of spending cuts across multiple state agencies. We need plans that outline how they will maintain a quality, affordable higher education system for this state. For that matter, we need to hear where higher education ranks on their list of priorities. Will they make Wisconsin's colleges and universities the prime focus of their administration, or will they follow the philosophy of Steve Nass and try to gut everything worthwhile from our schools? In the 2008 presidential election, students proved they can be a force for a candidate that motivates them. They can be just as strong a force for a candidate who shows he will fight for them and their education.
In all likelihood, any one of these candidates can probably govern Wisconsin better than California has been governed, including the 18-year-old. But that does not mean that any of them could handle a crisis well. Students should know how their next governor will affect their education. As the future of this state, they deserve that much.
