THE FISCAL WATCHDOG

By Harrison Hunt
Managing Editor

In times of budget crunches for the State and the University, this column will serve to point out what students and other members of the campus community consider wasteful spending as well as what we can do, on an individual level to cut down on spending costs for our University, to ensure that each dollar spent is used wisely.

Recently, a letter was circulated throughout the University by William A. Jones, Jr., the President-Elect of the Residence Halls Association. Within the letter, Jones states that Governor Ehrlich may cut “$60 million more from the higher education budget this year”. He continues: “With this cut, your tuition could go up as much as 25 percent.”

According to the University System of Maryland’s 2001-2002 Data Journal, the most recent edition of publication, there are 119,300 students enrolled in the University system. Of these, 73 percent are Maryland residents; 27 percent therefore are from out-of-state.

According to the same document, in-state students pay an average of $4,618 in tuition, whereas out-of-state students pay $10,655. These figures do not account for room and board, nor do they account for fees and other charges.

This means that the total amount of funds that the University System generated from student tuition was $745,385,207. If tuition were raised 25 percent for every student, the total revenue generated would be $927,309,356. This is a difference of $181,924,149, which is well above the $60 million higher education “cut” that William Jones believes that Gov. Ehrlich “may” make.

Furthermore, if the pessimistic Jones is correct, and $60 million is cut, there will be around an 8 percent increase in tuition. This is a marked difference when compared to 25 percent. But, if tuition really is going up 25%, where is all that extra revenue going to? You do the math.

After all, it’s your money.

Is there something that you feel the Fiscal Watchdog should call attention to? If so, contact us at: editor@theterrapintimes.com