The Tuition Fairy
By Goldwater Institute: Arwynn Mattix (12/08/06)
Should higher education remain "nearly free"? - Over the past five years, tuition at Arizona's three public universities has increased roughly 13.5 percent. The average tuition per student is now about $4,600 a year. The tuition increases have lead to complaints and even lawsuits from students. That's because Arizona's constitution states higher education should be "as nearly free as possible."
Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a “tuition fairy.” Appropriated and non-appropriated university spending in Arizona averaged $3.1 billion in FY 2007. That’s over $23,700 for each full time student, a 17 percent increase since 2000 (adjusted for inflation). Taxpayers picked up the bulk of the tab. Meanwhile, there’s little evidence Arizona’s public university system has improved an equivalent 17 percent.
It is not unreasonable for students to help pay for an education of which they will be the primary beneficiaries. When taxpayers contribute the majority of funding, university officials have little incentive to reduce expenses. Instead of scaling back on unnecessary expenditures and focusing resources on what’s important to students, university officials simply ask for more money. That’s bad news for taxpayers and students alike.
Rather than requiring more of taxpayers, policymakers should address the real problem—the paradoxical constitutional requirement that higher education be “nearly free.” Any college graduate should know there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Arwynn Mattix is a research assistant at the Goldwater Institute.
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