Tuition Goes Up Again

Ok, I knew this was going up,but michigan could find some place to cut.  I mean, these increases year after year cannot last.  At some point, the school has to realize that people cannot afford to attend. 

Along with this, can the regents ever approve a tuition increase without included some renovation to a sports facility?  It gets pretty annoying...

As someone who works in the "revenue" side of the university, it should be noted that not only does it do an incredible job of protecting its investments (it outperformed almost every other high-endowment school in the country with how it has weathered the recession), its dedication to cost-cutting and efficiency is second to none.

Over the past 5 years, the university has cut between 1 and 2 percent off of its operating expenses every year, amounting to more than $200M decline in expenses since 2005.  This won't slow down either, since this is part of a long-term cost reduction plan.  They do this by removing redundancies, promoting energy efficiency, etc. 

U-M hasn't had a mass hiring freeze like Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, and others did, or even a soft hiring freeze.  They haven't cut salaries across the board or demanded grand concessions from employees.  They still offer some of the best benefits in all of higher education. 

The tuition increases (percentage-wise) are still some of the lowest in the state, and every time they raise tuition by a percentage point they increase financial aid by more than that percentage point, so I am certain that financial aid will increase by at least 7%.  Now I know that it isn't a 1-1 exchange, but that shows the commitment that this university has to making things affordable.  That is why for the fundraising people, scholarships and financial aid is the top priority right now.

Tuition increases are terrible and they certainly aren't sustainable for the whole of higher education in the long term, but we take pride in the fact that a U-M degree is amazing.  I chose U-M over Ivy League schools and I am so proud of the education I received and wouldn't exchange it for any experience in the world.  In the competitive world of higher education, the university has to keep up to keep that degree meaningful and ensure a great quality of education for its students.  Unfortunately that costs more money now than ever.  All we can do is try to hope that we can make that experience affordable for everyone.

The real question is - why should your money be worth less every year?  The answer lies in the banking system in the USA from the 18th century until 1913.  Fractional reserve banking is not working.

Tuition costs will continue to go up as long as loans are so easy for students to get.  Tuition at college in general is rising much faster than will work and won't stop until the middle class can no longer afford school its crazy and somebody with some foresight needs to step in and fix the educational void that will continue to grow as tuition continues to go up.

I don't go to Michigan (wouldn't be able to afford it anyway), but my dad is an employee at a private university, thus his offspring don't have to pay tuition to that university, nor to about 300 other private/liberal art schools across the country. Moral of the story, get a job at one fo these schools if you're gonna have kids.

and worse, my tax dollars get to cover NCAA hearings in August, severance packages, answering FOIA requests, and who knows what else when it's all said and done.  At least some of the money is going to a good cause up north.