Tuition increase a bad move

Like clockwork, the university raised its tuition for the 2010-2011 school year over the summer.

On July 6, the new tuition rates — $2,000 for out-of-state students and $500 for in-state students—were announced a month after this year's freshmen made their commitment to the university.

The timeliness of the raise was inconsiderate not only to incoming students but also to current students. In the current economic conditions, $2,000 is a substantial amount of money, and the increase left out-of-state students and their families less than a month to come up with it or take out loans to cover the tuition.

In-state graduate students will pay the same tuition as undergraduate out-of-state students, $24,240, to pursue their degrees. What incentive does this leave for Delawareans to choose the university over any other school for their graduate studies?

Furthermore, does the university now expect students to be prepared each summer for an increase in tuition as large as this year's? In the summer of 2009, tuition for the following school year also rose considerably.

In the spring, the Board of Trustees approved fee increases for housing and meal plans along with plans to improve the Bob Carpenter Center and Frazier Field. With all of the construction projects the university has undertaken, it doesn't seem right that the students should be expected to bear the financial burden of decisions that were made without our direct input and shell out more money with every year. In our four years here, we won't get to see the completion of many of the projects on which our money will be used.

Officials said financial aid will make up approximately 13 percent of this year's tuition increase. If the new rates are partly because of an increase in students' need to help pay for school, it follows that students will only continue needing more aid as rates grow higher.