Is $65 a Lot of Money?

Dear student body, 

            The ability of Boise State to provide a more advanced education and meet the demands of its students from all ages is restricted by a lack of money.  Boise State charges some of the lowest fees when you’re in a market for a college education.  The ASBSU is afraid that if they raise the cost then fewer people will be able to come to BSU.  Well, if the money could provide more variety and availability in class times then individuals who have to work could develop a schedule that wouldn’t conflict with their lives.   Individuals who can’t come to class due to work wouldn’t be able to attend at any price.  If an individual can’t afford an extra $65 a week spent on themselves then they need to rethink the college degree route.  Personally, I am tired of having to watch Bronco web every second to wait for a spot to open up.  I am trying to earn a degree and meet requirements while still trying to graduate on time, but some classes simply impede my progress by filling up so quickly.  Schools with more money have more to spend on scholarships, upgrades, research, developing new programs and creating more available classes.  Boise State University should raise their fees because I want to take the classes I need when I want to take them.

            In the past tuition was substantially low because the colleges weren’t realistic in their planning of how much a college needs to produce educated citizens.  Currently, tax payers of Idaho help fund the education found at the Idaho public universities.  The state shouldn’t be seen as a cash cow that will simply pay for everything, some of the burden needs to fall on the students.    There is no denying it; the cost of everything has risen greatly.  In some instances inflation has been in double digits.  Several factors play a role in the price and the complaints people make every year.  When looking at the cost of education a person usually experiences “sticker shock” because it is a purchase that isn’t made as frequently as others, for example movie tickets, magazines, insurance, and clothing.  Since most of those purchases are fairly regular people rarely notice that the price jumped seven or more percent between years and eventually it all adds up to the price of $8 for a movie ticket.  Charles Smith in Market Values suggests that  historically, the price of an education was sold substantially less than cost forty or more years ago (18).  Since most colleges undersold the education people received, the costs of today are now real cost and people simply believe that the college is ripping them off.

In reality the amount even the most prestigious colleges and universities charge is low compared to similar sectors.  For example, according to Smith, the amount of money it costs to send a person through the cheapest military training, the Army’s 8-week long boot camp, runs the nation $3,000 a week per participant.  Other military training costs with flight training run above $350,000 a week per person and the Marine Corps with no flight training runs $75,000 a week per person.  Private corporations pay similar prices to the military to send their employees to seminars and classes at the average price of $3,000 a week per participant.  One program at the Wharton School University of Pennsylvania is $12,000 a week per person.  The Ivy League schools that charge in excess of $35,000 come to only $1,250 a week per participant (6-8).  The amount a Boise State Student pays at the very most is $435 a week; this calculation includes full-time fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and personal allowance all based on the 2004-2005 school year from the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office.  However, if you are simply paying for full-time fees then the price is only $117 per week per participant.

Do you know where the full-time fees go?  For the 2003-2004 year a matriculation fee of $1,059.25, $294.25 on the Facility and Technology fees, and $272 on activity fees a semester for a total of $1,625.5, $3,251 for one year, was included in full-time fees (Rosenbaum, Schedule).  The activity fee makes up 17 percent of your fees.  Intercollegiate Athletics received $85 per person making up 31 percent of the activity fee.  According to Jenny Lowe, assistant to the athletic director, for the 2003-2004 school year there was only 353 students in athletics (Feb 24, 2005).   Those 353 students consumed more money then the library, research, and public service all put together.  According to Chris Rosenbaum, the budget director at Boise State shows that when the portion of instruction is broken down the College of Engineering, Education, Business and Economics, Health Sciences, the Division of Extended Studies and General Studies all receive less pure student then Athletics does shown in the Operating report.  Those branches need more money to pay for more professors and research opportunities, rather than athletics spending it on trips and camps.  Branches of Boise State, disregarding athletics, all receive help from the State of Idaho to pay for the costs, but the costs are solely related to academics and student support (Rosenbaum, Operating).  With the help from these branches students every year earn degrees and go on into the workforce.  How many students become professional athletes after Boise State?  There are more students involved in those branches then there are those involved with athletics.    The library could be used by everyone, whereas, most of the athletics is for pure entertainment and marketing for the school.  Not all students can go or      even use most of the athletic facilities.  Granted, the tennis courts can be used by anyone, but besides that what else is open to the students?  I won’t argue about the football team because they usually raise enough money to pay for other sports and their own. 

Some of the athletic money for this year will be going to some new women’s teams.   Gene Bleymaier, the Boise State Athletic Director, said in an article in the Arbiter, “The funds would give a pair of scholarships to the Women’s Nordic Ski program, as well as pay an assistant coach and other funds for the team” (Lapray 2).  Currently, there are only three women involved in downhill skiing and only two on the Nordic ski team.  Those two women will automatically get scholarships simply because there are no more candidates.  It doesn’t matter if they are good or poor students; the only thing that matters is that they wanted to do the Nordic Ski team.  No performance standard is set, so these women could be horrible and still receive a scholarship to attend Boise State.  Whereas, there are certainly more academic outstanding students who would love to receive the same scholarship, but unfortunately you must be a woman and on the Nordic Ski team.  According to the Arbiter, Boise State needs to include two more women’s sports in order to comply with Title IX. The sports they are considering to include are swimming, softball, and water polo within the next five years (2).  Thanks to the strength of the football team their new indoor facility won’t be a burden to the students.  However, the Boise State cheerleaders and the Mane-Line Dancers will be able to move into some of the office space being included in the new facility (2).  Shockingly, the cheerleaders and dancers aren’t happy with just new and more office space. They want a $2.85 hike in student fees to pay for their sport (2).  The hike will probably pay for new office furniture and equipment.  Any hike increase could be better spent on any of the academic programs at Boise State, rather than the cheerleaders and dance team.

The athletic department isn’t the only area at Boise State that lacks fiscal sense.  The ASBSU has a budget of around $452,000 this year according to their 2005 budget.  If that money was dedicated solely to full ride scholarships then 126 students would be able to come to Boise State for free. David Morris, ASBSU president, “…addressed the senate, asking it to allow the executive branch of the senate to hire an ad designer and a public relations position for ASBSU.  We need to get the word out about what we do and generate a favorable opinion in the student population of the Senate,” according to an article in the Arbiter written by Dustin Lapray.  More money wasted on things not needed.  If the Senate needs to generate a more favorable opinion then it shouldn’t waste money on worthless services.  Some of their budget goes to clubs, currently 99 clubs for a total of $171,600 (Clubs).  Some of the clubs receive only $100 and others $3,000 (Clubs).  Where that money goes I don’t know because the clubs simply have to submit a budget, which isn’t posted for public use and then are held responsible by an advisor to ensure the costs are relevant.  However, the money can be spent on retreats, field trips, and scholarships for the club.  The ASBSU also uses some of their funds for retreats and training, this year $5,300 (2005).  This year the ASBSU has personal expenses that total $79,000 (2005).  The personal expenses account goes to pay those involved in the ASBSU.  The president, vice president, chief of staff, the support staff, and the senators are all paid with the personal expense account.  That is more then some professor’s salaries.  In addition, they have the power to set their own fees.  In the ASBSU they are called service awards.  The president earns $8,423.22, vice president earns $7,723.56, and the ASBSU chief of staff $4,912.96 for a total of $21,059.74 (ASBSU).  That is a lot of money being spent on just three people’s services that mostly vote on things that have little effect on the educational value being given at Boise State University or simply don’t show up at all to vote.  The students in the ASBSU justify their budget training fees and retreats by stating they’re needed to better serve the student body.  However, shouldn’t they be fully capable of doing the job before they ran whether than after the election?  For example, when the U.S. president is inaugurated he doesn’t go off to some conference to learn to be a great leader, in contrast he is a great leader before he runs for presidency.  Overall, their money would be better spent on upgrades, scholarships, and things that relate directly to the students rather than clubs that include a fraction of the student population.      

             Colleges and universities are limited to a small list of things they can use to entice qualified professors for teaching positions.  Currently, professor’s salaries are paid for by mostly Idaho State taxes.  Idaho State Board passed the tuition bill.  It will allow the colleges and universities in Idaho to now charge tuition that will pay for teacher’s salaries.  Some people see this as a bad thing, but colleges and universities should have the ability to charge what it actually costs to attend school.  Boise State President, Robert Kustra, stated in an article in the Arbiter “Theoretically, with more flexibility we shouldn’t be going into the state board with the rather large increases that we’ve been asking for lately” (Rutty).  The tuition will generate more freedom in how funds can be spent.   The new advantage is Boise State can now use tuition to pay for things related to instruction and the fees to pay for upgrades. 

            The flexibility in fees brings numerous opportunities for Boise State to grow into a more prestigious university.  In an article in the Arbiter Boise State’s plans were discussed, “In 2000, three years before Robert Kustra became president of the university, Boise State outlined a plan to become a metropolitan research institute” quoted from an article written by Randall Post.  In order to achieve these new programs, education standards will have to be met.  Boise State needs to award at least ten doctorates a year in three different subjects or at least 20 doctorates all together each year (Post).  In order to accomplish this goal more efficiently and effectively some steps include moving the Larry Selland College of Applied Technology to Boise State West to allow more space dedicated to research (Post).  If Boise State charged more, then the ability to accomplish this goal would occur sooner.  The more money wouldn’t only benefit those interested in doctorates; another goal of Boise State’s is becoming more service oriented to student needs.  That means more classes would be available during the night and weekend for the nontraditional students at Boise State University allowing for more students to pursue their education without putting their lives on hold (Post).  The funding to accomplish these goals won’t come from outside sources, therefore students needs to share the burden.

            Boise State University is one of the cheapest in the northwest and nation at only $3,520 a year for instate tuition.  The national average for public university fees is $5,132 a year (Bekker).  If the average university is asking for $5,132 from their students then Boise State students shouldn’t complain about the tuition bill.  The fees at Boise State will raise and they need to because the classrooms need to be upgraded, programs need to added, new professors hired, and a variety of class times offered.  Sona Andrews, vice president of academic affairs said “You pay for what you get and if students want to see the value of their degrees increase, they should be prepared to pay higher student fees” (Rutty).    Most of the public colleges and universities in the New England states have their students pay over $6,300 a year to attend school (Bekker).  The level of education and variety of programs, including doctorates received at these establishments is regarded as better compared to that of Boise State University offers.  Boise State University is a worthy place, but it could be capable of much more if the money was there to help it achieve its goals.

The complaints students have about the costs of their education need to be directed towards the athletics department and the ASBSU for their lack of fiscal sense.  The taxpayer’s of Idaho have continuously contributed more money to Boise State then the students.  Boise State students need to be willing to pay for what they want.  If the university asked for an additional $2,000 per full time student and assuming 10,000 students attended as full time then the university would have an additional $20 million dollars to spend on research, professors, scholarships, upgrades, new buildings, new programs, and a variety of class times available for the students.  That breaks down to only an increase of $65 a week.  Over the course of four years $80 million would have been generated to create a better university from which you earned your degree.  If you pursued further education then possibly by then Boise State would have a doctorate program for you with the extra cost you contributed during your four years.  The taxpayers of Idaho don’t need to shoulder that burden; the students need to pick up the slack.    No longer would the lecture halls be over crowed and the professor not even know your face.  The labs wouldn’t be taught by a graduate student, rather an established professor that helps you grasp the material.  Watching Bronco Web like a stock picker would no longer be necessary.  All of this would be possible if Boise State increased the cost by $65 a week for each student.  The increase should be seen as an investment in yourself and the learning potential you have.

                                                                                    Sincerely,