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GUEST COLUMN |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Matt Smith |
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Families and students need 'Truth in Tuition'
By state Rep. Matt Smith, D-Allegheny
The only predictable part about paying for college today is that you'll be paying more next year. But how much more?
Families need help planning ahead and I believe that we must work to ensure that a college degree is affordable for parents and students. Tuition at state schools – state-owned universities, community colleges, and state-related schools – rose 47 percent on average from 1993 to 2003. But the rising costs each year were totally unpredictable. If a college degree is going to continue being the ticket to a successful career for most of our children, paying for it can't be a complete guessing game that shuts out many students.
I believe there's a simple and commonsense way to make the cost of college more predictable – the "Truth in Tuition Act." It's a plan I'm proposing in the state House that would require our State System universities, state-related schools and community colleges to give new students a set schedule of tuition and fees for all four years they'd be at the school. The dollar figures stated in that schedule wouldn't just be estimates or projections; the school wouldn’t be allowed to charge a student any more than the rates in the schedule.
Frequently, tuition rates are kept artificially low by increasing various fees with ambiguous names. A student's bill riddled with expensive fees that get bigger every year ought to be clear about its charges. Under Truth-in-Tuition, rather than merely stating the name of a fee – such as "Technology Fee" - the schedule would also include a clear explanation about each fee to provide more transparency.
With Truth-in-Tuition, we can give our students and their families the ability to plan ahead beginning the day of enrollment. We can eliminate guesswork and uncertainty about how much tuition and fees might jump the next year. I firmly believe that a lot more transparency will benefit all families looking to send their sons and daughters to further their education following high school.
It's time we help students and parents by providing for predictability and transparency.
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