As the semester closes in upon us, it becomes necessary to comment upon the current circumstances of the public university student. West Chester University, along with the other 13 state universities of Pennsylvania, have decided to raise the cost of tuition again in the coming year, even after a raise of 3.7% last year.
As public university students, it is expected that we should receive a quality education, subsidized by the state. Higher education as an institution for only the rich and elite should be a relic of the past. But, apparently the State does not hold the same views.
In the past year, the PASSHE system has experienced a $63 million drop in state funding and has led to our universities considering laying off faculty in addition to the decisions to shelve or shut down 70 programs across the state. Our own university has decided to close down the Physics department, and instead lump it under the umbrella of Chemistry in order to cut corners. Keep in mind that this decision was made in lieu of phasing out the Physics program altogether. What the hell is a university without a physics program?
In fact, it is questionable as to why WCU is even considered a ‘state school.’ Throughout the 1980s, our university received over 60%, or the majority, of its funding from the state, and so the name made sense. However, in the present day, the State has dwindled its subsidy to below 30% of total funding- meaning that 70% of funding comes from the TUITION of students and PRIVATE donors. Doesn’t this make this a.... private school, the very exclusive institution that the public university seeks to stand in opposition to?
One can see how our university has changed even within the past few years. New private dormitories that will eventually funnel our students’ funds into private hands litter the scene of what used to be a public recreational field. Plans to knock down the rest of the university-owned dorms and to build more similar privately owned dorms are in the works. The cost of student meal plans continues to increase as the quality of the factory-farmed, hormone-enhanced, genetically-modified sludge remains the same. Even the education department has been forced to let business interests sneak in by requiring students to post their clearances on a useless database called LiveText, which does little besides charge students $90.
Other statistics on our own University are not encouraging. It is noted that out of the 1,993 freshman students who started last year, only 969 were offered any form of financial aid. That leaves 1,024 students paying the full price of $15,052 of tuition and room and board. Out of the minority who did receive a financial aid package, only 23% of the ‘aid’ was a scholarship or award. The other 77% was doled out in a subsidized loan or work-study job, which should hardly be considered ‘aid’ at all because of the close association between working students and lower academic performance. This more resembles a ‘welfare-to-work’ program rather than a ‘financial aid package.’
On Tuesday, Nov. 30th, a representative from PASSHE joined the campus for a meeting that discussed ways to advocate for more funding from the state. We were encouraged to remind our representatives that 120,000 currently fill our state schools, and that 500,000 graduates of the state system live in PA- meaning that the funding of our schools is an ‘investment’ in the future of our state.
What this representative failed to realize is that this ideology is the very problem- To the State, the university and its students are a mere business investment.
Who cares if the Physics Department disappears? There are not many physics students anyway and therefore it is a waste of resources- the fact that the field of Physics leads the way in scientific advancement does not matter. What does it matter if the university cannot encourage students of traditionally oppressed backgrounds to come to the university because there is no money for true financial aid packages- we can fill those spots with richer students who can afford to pay the full price in their place. What does it matter if students cannot afford the new overpriced dormitories- they can simply take out loans from private lenders with extraordinarily high interests rates to pay for it later.
Indeed, limited access to resources, information, ideas, and technology to only the members of the elite are key instruments of oppression. It is said that an ignorant populace is easily governed, that as long as people have their bread and their circuses they will not fight those who oppress them. Right now the State is attempting to dismantle a system of public education, a right that many people have shed blood for. It is time that we demand an end to business as usual.
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