cartoon by Adam Omernik
Fall semester has reached its end. A majority of students have already registered for next semester and have begun planning their next year of classes at this University.
But like any new year, a few things may be changing for the students continuing their education here in future semesters.
Of course, the parking problem will remain. Many of the clubs and sports teams we love will probably be cut and Davenport will continue to disappoint.
But next year, one thing will be changing for sure. The price of tuition is going to increase, yet again.
But that's no surprise.
In the past, the price of attending this University has risen between 4 percent and 8 percent annually. The 2005-2006 school year will be no exception.
It has been decided that next year, students here will be paying over 6 percent more a semester than what they are paying now.
To keep things running semi-smoothly at La Verne, the school is heavily dependent on tuition – it accounts for about 94 percent of its operating budget.
There are a number of factors that administrators consider when they are evaluating the price of tuition, including the cost of living and local apartment rent rates, the price of food services and the expense of maintaining benefits for faculty members.
The money we pay for our tuition goes to pay for a number of on and off campus services, including janitorial costs and even our landscaping expenses.
But let's not forget that other factors could be draining tuition dollars and in fact affecting the price tag that is attached to our education.
Is the College of Law paying for itself yet?
Are on-campus management blunders contributing to increased expenses?
We know that the closure of the Athens campus, which has caused many students and faculty to be without a campus, has cost us more than $1.4 million, a bill that our tuition dollars are helping to pay.
One of the largest factors in the tuition hike is not one that involves debt or mistakes. It involves faculty.
According to budget management on campus, a large portion of our tuition costs go to our professors’ salaries.
Our tuition payments go to support faculty benefits and pay raises, all in hopes of persuading them to stay on our campus instead of venturing elsewhere for higher-paying opportunities.
A considerable amount of funding is also spent on the lovely landscaping that surrounds our campus. And why?
Well, according to the budget manager, the faculty and staff like for the campus to look aesthetically pleasing.
What about what the students like?
The beautiful flowers and manicured lawns: You are paying for them.
Your loans, your grants, your part time job paychecks, they are all being used to keep ULV employees happy. So, you better enjoy the flowers as well.
It would be nice if our University worked a little harder to keep the students happy.
In between the issuing of the bills and the dispersing of faculty paychecks, we, the students, seem to have been forgotten.
On a campus that has a low retention rate, despite having a high recruitment rate, it is no secret that something needs to change.
Instead of making an attempt to keep the faculty all-smiles, why not work on keeping the hard working students happy? After all, we pay the bills around here.