Governor hikes in-state tuition

Governor Robert Ehrlich backed out of a Nov. 24 appearance at Blair after he caught word of a possible protest by students over the 11 percent increase in tuition at the University of Maryland (UMD), a Maryland congressman said.

According to Maryland Congressman Peter Franchot, Ehrlich "would like to have a first-rate university without paying for it."

Students for Global Responsibility organized the possible protest on the basis that Ehrlich's enforced tuition increase will prohibit many students from attending quality in-state universities. "It's a bread-and-butter issue," co-president senior Josh Scannell said. "A predominately working-class student body will not be able to afford, in large part, the tuition hike. In essence, it will cut off some of the underprivileged students at Montgomery Blair from a higher education, something that all students should have access to," he said.

A $122 million Maryland state budget cut has resulted in the 11 percent increase in tuition next year and could rise to 40 percent in years to come, according to Frank Valines, Associate Director of the Student Office of Financial Aid at UMD.

The price increase may affect up to 61 percent of Blazer seniors, who plan to apply to UMD in 2004, according to an informal Silver Chips poll on Nov. 25. Of last year's graduates, over 99 students went to UMD system colleges. According to the same poll, 47 percent said tuition costs have a large impact on where they choose to attend college.

Seniors may not be able to depend on UMD as the cheapest option, according to College Information Coordinator Sharon Williams. "The tuition increase impact is tremendous at Blair," Williams said. "In-state tuition is supposed to be lower; the assumption [was] that students can always afford to go to UMD," she said.

The rise in tuition fees can be attributed in part to the overall rise of costs in public higher education. Tuition increased at UMD by 13 percent over the past year, but UMD's $6,759 tuition remains less than the national average of $10,636, according to the College Board.

Some fear that increasing tutition has sent the wrong message to the younger generation. "We are changing the concept of a public university by turning it into a private institution, a place where only people with a high income or a scholarship can attend," Franchot said.

Although the increase may affect applicants and students, some say little is being done to protest the new cost on campus. "The student response has been fairly muted," Blair alumnus and UMD sophomore Jeanne Schoenfelder commented.

Franchot also noted that Richard Hug, Ehrlich's chief political fundraiser and first appointment to the university board, had recommended raising tuition to an average of $9,000.