The REAL University of Texas revealed in tuition debate

The University of Texas at Austin recently made headlines statewide when the board of regents proposed raising tuition an average of 15% over the next two years, after it has already risen more than 60% since tuition deregultion in 2003. After students literally marched on campus, demanding answers and fairness from university administrators, and after some pressure from the Legislature, the board of regents agreed to a 4.95% tuition increase cap for the next two years.

But not all of UT-Austin's administration agreed with this move. President William Powers, Jr. agreed with an advisory committee that recommended an increase of 7.8 percent next fall and 6.9 percent the following year. According to this article in the Austin American Statesman, regent James Huffines offered the resolution for the lower cap, but also mentioned that UT-Austin's tuition and fees are generally lower than those of comparable universities, including Pennsylvania State University and the University of Michigan.

Student leader Andrew Solomon supports the higher tuition plan, citing UT's financial aid programs for lower income families as a protection.

The logic being displayed by President Powers and Solomon is so eeriely similar to what we hear in the debates over health care funding, environmental regulation and others that we no longer wonder where this line of thinking begins. As tuition prices skyrocket at Texas' flagship universities, and the smaller universities fall into the "competitive" mindset and follow suit, more and more Texas students are being priced out of higher education. The average student at the University of Texas, should he have to fund his own education, often does so out of loans and racks up more than $20,000 in debt before he's 23 years old. And you were worried about credit cards!

As we price students out of this increasingly necessary part of their education, some are arguing that more financial aid is the answer. Students who come from the poorest families are given grants and special scholarships that alleviate the burden of tuition increases. Meanwhile, middle-income families who "make too much money" to qualify for that kind of aid face debt, and are paying ever-higher taxes to accommodate the grants and other financial aid offered to other students. This is a vicious cycle that has one solution - accountability and, until the universities exercise restraint, legislative regulation.

Universities in Texas are state agencies that receive state funds. Deregulation was anything but; the universities continue to receieve money from the state (right after deregulation, they received less, but the funding has increased again since then), and have total discretion over tuition increases.

The UT board of regents did the right thing by capping tuition increases for the next two years, but the Legislature still needs to address this issue in 2009 to prevent further burdening students and parents.