Tuesday, June 17, 2008



There He Goes Again...
Rappin' Robert

From the Daily:


"I think the result was better for the University that it could have been. But I am somewhat disappointed that we're reducing budgets at a time when I think we should increase them and I'm somewhat disappointed that we didn't have the ability to drive down tuition more for students."

Bob, why don't you admit that the plan was to charge 7.5 percent from the beginning. Here is an exchange, previously posted on the PT, that makes this clear:

"Will the Regents support a 7.5% tuition increase, Professor Martin asked? They have been told it is part of the budget plans, Mr. Pfutzenreuter said. Professor Chapman suggested that 7.5% will be seen as quite high. Mr. Pfutzenreuter agreed but pointed out that for Minnesota residents the legislature provided funding to buy down the increase by 2%, so it will only be 5.5% (for students from households with an income of up to $150,000). Professor Chapman said he was sorry to see such an increase in an election year; Mr. Pfutzenreuter said the other choices are increased state funding or less new investment." Senate Committee on Finance and Planning, September 18, 2007

Note the date of this discussion, Bob, last September. There was never any intention of a lower number.

So we have Tom Rukavina to thank for driving the tuition down, even 0.25%. Not this universtiy administration...

"Hardly anyone will pay 7.5 [sic] percent, if you look at all the scholarship money we've raised in the last two years. So I believe while the tuition increases were somewhat higher than inflation, that we're really doing a good job of raising private money and providing other financial support to help students with the cost of education."

A little math, Bob:

Student Debt = [What the U charges + what it costs to live] - [Financial Aid + Earnings...]

in shorthand: SD = Cost - Student Resources

You can brag until the cows come home that the amount of student aid money is going up, but as long as the cost is going up even faster, then student debt load will continue to increase.

Explain to me please, the following numbers.

According to Kiplinger, we have the highest average student loan debt of any (public) school in the BigTen:

Average Debt at Graduation

Big Ten Public Universities

Illinois $15,413

Ohio State $18,130

Indiana $19,756

Iowa $20,234

Purdue $20,102

Wisconsin $20,282

Michigan State $22,147

Penn State $23,500

Michigan $23,353

Minnesota $24,995


Are these numbers correct, Bob?

If so, why aren't you willing to admit that we have a problem with student debt here at the University of Minnesota? The debt load of our graduates ($25,000 according to Kiplinger) is the highest of any public BigTen school, including Michigan!

2 comments:

momo said...

My daughter will be starting college in 2012. As a U employee I get no tuition break, and I will not have saved enough for her to be able to pay without borrowing. But I will not allow her to go into debt for her education; I'll do the borrowing. I have found that a lot of my students come from families with more means that I have, but the attitude seems to be "I worked my way through school; so should you."

Mr. B. said...

Hola Momo,

Same for me some time ago. My son went to the University of Arizona. There he graduated in four years. This was at a time when the four year graduation rate was 28% here at the U.

The debt load for students and their parents at Minnesota is a disgrace.

Best,

B.