A proposal just passed in the state legislature that raises the University’s Academic Excellence fee $120 per semester to $245, yet we think the fee is unfair and is the byproduct of bad moves from the state legislature.
It’s not unfair we have to pay the fee, but that as students, we are stuck in this academic rut, having to pay an increasing amount of money not covered by TOPS. All this is because the state legislature is limited to a 3 percent tuition increase per year.
Because TOPS covers any tuition hike, administrators have to find more inventive ways to accommodate rising costs and get more money for improvements.
This includes the Academic Excellence Fee, which is peculiar in name, considering no one can figure out how this makes our academic endeavors at the University excellent.
Shouldn’t basic tuition cover “academic excellence?” We understand running a university is expensive, but students are not in favor of an increase, especially when it appears the money will be used for things we are already paying for.
In a Reveille article, documents from the Chancellor’s office showed the current fee has generated $5.7 million and brought in more than 70 faculty positions.
It also allowed more than 250 class sections to be added per year, and the University used portions of the fee to support various other things such as tutors, counselors and classroom technical support.
The new fee will continue that trend, generating $6.3 million in net revenue and will be used to add 30 new faculty positions and generate a faculty pay raise.
While this is all great for the school, it begs the question, “Why do we need a fee increase to get these things?”
With the cynicism involved with Chancellor Mark Emmert’s pay raise last July, we, like many faculty and students, are skeptical of giving the school more money.
Most students are on a tight budget as it is; this fee only increases the burden on them, especially those who must take out student loans or rely on financial aid.
But the truth is, this fee is money the school needs to get by. Bottom line — if the school doesn’t have this money, the students don’t get the best quality education they paid for.
If Emmert hopes to accomplish even the basic goals of his flagship agenda, we need more money.
But we think it is unfair that higher education, particularly in Louisiana, is put in this position in the first place.
Part of the problem is, in Louisiana, it seems legislators often cut school funding for other programs, such as charity hospitals, and want schools to just raise tuition to increase revenue.
This may solve the school’s revenue problem, but it hurts many students who have to bear the hardship of paying an increasingly exorbitant amount of money each semester.
Other Louisiana schools, which also are limited in tuition increases, have followed suit in charging an Academic Excellence Fee to generate more revenue.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Grambling State and five other schools have increased fees up to $120 per semester.
The new Academic Excellence Fee offers great incentive to the school, and truly is needed for the University to function properly and continue to be the flagship school in the state.
But we want Chancellor Emmert and the state Legislature to realize success comes with a price tag many students are not willing to pay.