Come to your senses, Colorado.
State college officials are again gearing up to hike college tuition in hopes of closing in on a shortfall caused by a lack of state funding.
These hikes are imminently shortsighted.
Last week, an Aurora Sentinel story by Adam Goldstein pointed out how much our collective and individual investments in higher education pay back. It’s not a leap to understand that those with college educations have better-paying jobs. But what’s not nearly as advertised is the fact that money spent on local colleges increase the standard of living and quality of the community for everyone. It’s easy to understand. A priority for business development is a quality higher-education system. That’s not opinion, ask any chamber of commerce or economic development agency: good businesses demand a good college system. The more of a population with college degrees, the higher the average wage, and the more these citizens pay in taxes. More taxes, better roads, better schools, better everything.
Even more important to cities like Aurora and Denver are a strong community college system. Here, the difference between the haves and have-nots is most evident.
Community college degrees mean the difference between a life lived in poverty or very near it, or a life free of social services and full of more choices and more benefits. At a community college, the investment made by taxpayers and individuals is highest of all.
Given these facts, the state doesn’t treat these institutions like the gold mines they are. Subsidies continue to shrink, meaning tuition continues to rise, meaning fewer, not more, students who stand to benefit the most won’t get to go to school.
Hardest hit are students of middle-class families, who are already being squeezed out of college educations by a system that overlooks them in so many ways. Whether real or perceived, these hikes persuade too many students to either put off starting a college education, which too often ends in no college education. There is no safety net for them, only never-ending tuition hikes that hit this population unfairly.
Community college students, who traditionally have a tougher time making the cost and time commitments to go to school, are hit the hardest. It’s these very students who benefit the most by having affordable access to higher education.
While some tuition increases are to be expected, state lawmakers and local college officials must limit those, cut from elsewhere in the state budget to alleviate some reductions, and insist that college officials do more to spread the economic responsibility among everyone associated with the state college system. If it means program or staff cuts over tuition hikes, there’s no doubt what’s most important in the long run. Keep schools, especially community colleges, available for everyone.
Great article! As an Adjunct Instructor at a community college, I see hard working student’s trying to balance work, family, and school and it is not right to continue to raise tuition. It deminishes a student’s ability and drive to want to achieve and make a better life for themselves and their family. This is what democracy is suppose to be about. The way to invest in our children’s future and get the economy back on track is to invest in community colleges. I say trim the fat from state budgets and get rid of these “pet” projects and provide opportunities for everyone to get a good education right in their own backyard…Community Colleges.
Kent
Denver CO