With shoe in hand, one U student told lawmakers that it doesn’t matter how cheap they think tuition is, if students can’t pay the bills, they won’t be in the classroom.
State legislators constantly remind leaders of higher education what a bargain students get for their college degrees.
“Students understand this,” said Jake Packard, Utah Student Association lobbyist. “Still, if tuition exceeds the amount of money we have for it, we can’t afford it. It does not matter how much our education is worth.”
To illustrate his point, Packard told lawmakers a story about a pair of shoes he bought.
He needed a nice pair of shoes for his job at Nordstrom. He found a pair of Santoni shoes worth $450 at Nordstrom’s The Rack for $140. The shoes were on sale for half-off, and on top of that he got an employee discount.
In the end, the name-brand pair of shoes cost him $50.
“I bought them because they were within my budget,” he said.
The shoes are worth hundreds of dollars. Anyone who pays $140, $90 or $75 would be getting an amazing deal, but “my budget was $50. That is all I could afford.”
“Students understand that the education they get is great. But if they can’t afford to go to pay for school, they won’t attend,” Packard said.
His analogy brought a round of applause from those at the Higher Education Appropriation Committee meeting Wednesday.
“It just woke them up to see someone carrying a shoe around,” Packard said.
Rep. Gordon Snow, R Roosevelt, said the student presentations were “very efficient” and “effective” in elucidating their concerns.
The state’s $200 million tax revenue shortfall leaves lawmakers with few dollars to appropriate. The lack of funding leaves all state agencies scrambling to find extra money.
Student leaders have heard the high tuition increase rumors that float around the state Capitol and it worries them.
As of now, the state Board of Regents has approved an initial 3 percent increase, but that number may become higher after lawmakers distribute state funds in late January.
USA President Steve Palmer said he recognizes money is short, but “any mention of an addition to the Regent’s 3 percent, and we’ll be kicking and screaming,” he said.
After the Regents settle on an increase, each institution will be able to tack on an additional raise. U President Bernie Machen has indicated that the U’s increase will be “big” and “significant.”
“It scares me” to hear him talk like that, Packard said, “Words like ‘big’ and ‘significant’ put up red flags for [student leaders].”
Palmer said, “We realize state funding is tight, but it is unrealistic to say students can bear the full weight of that.”
Student leaders have been lobbying legislators for months. In December, the student body presidents of all state institutions met with Gov. Mike Leavitt to discuss tuition and state financial aid. They have met with the senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives as well.
Student leaders have also organized discussions with legislators where students will have the chance express there concerns.
“Our approach is a little different than usual,” Palmer said.
Usually student leaders hold a rally on the steps of the Capitol, but that doesn’t get attention from anyone other than the media, Palmer said. “We wanted to take a different approach to our lobbying this year. We think it will be more effective.”
What student leaders have done so far has well represented the students interests across the state, said Fred Esplin, vice president for university relations.