MSU students march to protest tuition increases, lack of student voice | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
"The march would be about many things.
Debt was one of them.
On the marchers’ list of demands were a tuition freeze and a return to the funding levels for higher education that prevailed before Gov. Rick Snyder took office.
They want that funding tied to minority enrollment and retention rates and 50 percent student representation on the university’s Board of Trustees.
...“Student debt rises every year,” he said. “Tuition goes up every . I think it’s a start of something, students saying, ‘We’ve had enough.’ ”
Most students at MSU graduate without any debt at all, but for those who do, the amounts they owe have risen consistently.
According to the Project on Student Debt, 41 percent of the graduating class of 2008 had debt and owed $17,347 on average. For the graduating class of 2012, 46 percent had borrowed and owed $24,987.
Tuition has risen by 90 percent over the last decade (by just over 50 percent after adjusting for inflation), though the university has also dramatically increased the financial aid it offers to low-income students.
“Student unionism has emerged as a voice for the students that exists outside of the institution,” said Duncan Tarr, a sophomore.
“It’s autonomous. It doesn’t get its power through handouts from the administration.”
No comments:
Post a Comment