The Globe’s Point – Tuition increase an annual upset

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Written By Editorial Board

Last Monday during our layout meeting, as we do every week, the editorial board discussed which stories from our news section should be placed on our front page.

Nearly all of the section editors looking at the layout agreed that while the story on this year’s tuition hike was significant, editors unanimously agreed that it wasn’t front-page material.

The rationale? Another year, another tuition increase.

In recent years, college tuition has been on a steady increase at Point Park, as it has across the nation. This semester, the university announced tuition would be increased by 3.9% for the 2017-2018.

What that means for us as students is that if you’re not in COPA you’re paying an extra $1,080, and if you’re in COPA, then you’re paying an extra $1,380.

These increases have become so regular that students – ourselves included as last week’s layout meeting demonstrated – have met these formal letters with indifference. Another year, another tuition increase.

But isn’t that sad? Students have ceased to question it, though we have been privately upset about it.

Our complacency with regards to the raise in tuition is an accepted fact, so much so that we don’t ask why.

Where are these tuition increases coming from when we pay for our own books, our professors are in active collective bargaining (and have had a pay freeze as a result) and have been assured by administration that tuition dollars are not going towards paying off the $73 million Pittsburgh Playhouse or the $2.5 million Center for Media Innovation?

Students can’t afford the cost of attendance here, or anywhere, but raising that monetary bar for the most basic shot at earning a degree has become a ridiculous balancing act.

As discussed in previous editions of the Globe, financial aid is the largest draw on the university’s funding – doesn’t this mean we’re chasing our own tails and spinning ourselves into debt that helps no one?

We get that tuition will go up as the cost of living and educating students goes up, but as a student body we would appreciate some transparency from our administration beyond the national trend.

As students, we should not just stand back and take this. Our voices need to be heard and respected by our university administration.