EDITORIAL – Pay up, Pitt

For Pitt students, the start of each new school year often comes with higher numbers on… For Pitt students, the start of each new school year often comes with higher numbers on University bills. This year is no exception.

Pitt’s Board of Trustees voted last week to raise tuition for the 2008-2009 school year. The trustees decided to increase in-state tuition by 6 percent and out-of-state tuition by 4 percent on the main campus. In-state students at Pitt’s branch campuses in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville will see a 4 percent tuition increase, and out-of-state students will see a 2 percent increase. Since 1998, tuition has increased by about 118 percent.

For many cash-strapped college students, some of whom rely heavily on loans, this tuition hike can come as a severe financial burden. But what many students don’t realize is that it’s also necessary.

According to a Pitt press release detailing the University’s budget for the coming year, state funding represented 32 percent of Pitt’s operating budget in 1975. Today, it represents only 11 percent.

Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg told the Post-Gazette, “The only revenue stream that has not kept pace is the state appropriation, which puts us at a disadvantage as we compete with more generously funded public research universities in other states.”

Struggling to keep up with the decrease in state funding, the successes of competing universities and the rate of inflation, it seems that Pitt’s only reasonable solution is a tuition raise. As our university steadily moves up in the rankings and attempts to earn a more prestigious status in the nation, this increase will enable Pitt to maintain its position as a respectable institution. If this is the direction we want Pitt to take – higher status and a higher level of education – then we should accept the high costs that come with it.

Furthermore, with its decision to raise tuition, Pitt has not forgotten about the financial well-being of its students. Keeping a balance with the tuition increase, the Board of Trustees also voted to increase financial aid by 5.6 percent, according to the University press release.

But with tuition costs increasing almost every year, it is important that Pitt eventually defines its ultimate goal as a scholastic institution. Does Pitt want to grow and expand into a prestigious, private institution, competing with the likes of Harvard and Yale? Or is it looking to stay in this current happy medium, where it can provide students with a high-quality education and a reputable faculty without demanding extremely high amounts of money?

Knowing where the University wants to stand in the coming years will not only make students more aware of the value of a Pitt degree and the worth of their university, but it will make the tuition increases much easier to bear. Perhaps students will be more willing to fork over the extra cash in hopes of pushing Pitt toward its common goal.