What to the State is the University Student?: In Light of the Recent Budget Cuts

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.

However, these raises do not represent the likely tuition raises that are to come. Last Tuesday, while most public university students were at home on Spring Break, newly-elected Governor Corbett unleashed a state budget proposal. His proposal includes a direct attack on our state schools and their ability to provide a quality, public education: statewide, he plans to cut the funding of our state schools by over 50%, or by $625 million dollars. Even for schools that are only state affiliated, such as nearby Temple, this means a loss of $80-90 million dollars next year. For West Chester, our paltry funding will fall by much more. Mansfield University may even close its doors.

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.

A few months ago, on 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 a so-called “investment” in the future of our state.

What this representative failed to realize is that this ideology is the very problem- To our State leaders, 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. Our leaders have given us the message that our right to opportunity and to education does not come before their so-called right to make a profit.

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.