Next year college students attending public schools in Maryland will again enjoy frozen tuition rates.
For those attending college right now, it?s a great deal.
But it?s not for taxpayers nor for the long-term health of the University System of Maryland. To listen to the governor you would think tuition levels have reached crisis levels. Before the 2006 election, Martin O?Malley said increases under his predecessor had turned Maryland schools into “toll colleges.” He pledged to work hard to freeze tuition “until it is in the range of affordability again.” As usual, he did not tell us who, ultimately, will pay for it as costs rise. Taxpayers will.
We do not dispute that “an educated work force is essential for economic growth in our state.” But freezing tuition is a solution in search of a problem. If college is so unaffordable here in the nation?s wealthiest state, wouldn?t enrollment be declining at Maryland?s public institutions? Instead, it climbed throughout the era of price spikes and is reaching historic highs. The most recent projections show total enrollment climbing 24 percent by 2017.
This situation means schools will have more students and fewer resources with which to teach them in coming years. It also forces taxpayers to subsidize those students who could afford to pay higher tuition, and it leaves less money for those who could not attend without financial aid or scholarships.
Wouldn?t targeting aid to the brightest students who can least afford it be the better solution? Many Ivy League schools and other top-ranked institutions are making college free to families whose income falls below $60,000 and are making up in grants the difference between what families can afford to pay and the actual cost of school. That makes sense.
So does giving the 11 USM universities more autonomy over their operations. Tuition freezes hamper long-term infrastructure planning and force top-down financial planning on schools with different student populations and needs. USM should look to the University of Virginia for advice. More freedom from state regulatory agencies since 2006 has given The University, as it is known among students, more flexibility to fund raise, hire and plan building projects.
In these tough budget times, thestate should be giving schools more tools, not fewer, to be good stewards of their resources. Freezing tuition only makes them more dependent on the state to make ends meet. It also shackles taxpayers to making “affordable” a tuition price that enrollment figures suggest may be too cheap.
