Fundraising allows Notre Dame to lead in tuition freeze
Stephen Carroll
freshman
One billion dollars!
No, that isn't a line from an Austin Powers movie. Notre Dame has raised over $1 billion through the Generations fundraising campaign.
So why is tuition increasing at all? Before spring break the University announced that tuition was going to increase by a record low 4.9 percent. This translates into another $1,430 per student. The cost of going to Notre Dame now stands at $30,530. My question is why.
Notre Dame is blessed with an incredibly large endowment and I'm not here to criticize that. What I am here to criticize is the fact that tuition is increasing. Notre Dame stands to gain approximately $13 million from this increase, according to an In Focus article by editor-in-chief Mike Connolly. This is just over 1 percent of the amount of money raised by the Generations campaign. It's really comforting to know that the University is not flinching to increase its financial burden on our parents so it can pad its bottom line by 1 percent.
Let's put this increase into the perspective of a college student. I work at an emergency room back home in Pennsylvania. It is an awesome job and I love it. It pays very well but it can be tough. I've seen some of the most awful things imaginable. I've been yelled at, spit on, bled on, and at any single moment I have about 27 things to do at once. It is so stressful that I have, more than once, considered walking out to save my sanity. I am on my feet hustling for eight hours or more a day. At the end of the day though, I know that I've helped a lot of people and that I've earned every cent of my paycheck.
The tuition increase stands at $1,430. To make enough money to cover that increase, I have to work approximately 140 hours. This translates into three and a half weeks of working full time, before taxes. When you consider the taxes taken out, it translates to over a month of work. Isn't it depressing to consider that Notre Dame is downplaying this "smallest tuition in decades" while I would have to work a whole month to cover this "record low increase?" Does anyone else see how much of an effect this tuition increase could have on families and students?
Here's an idea. Cover the $13 million gained by this increase with a measly 1.3 percent of the Generations campaign. It's also comforting to know that, compared to last year, we are saving $10 compared to last year's increase, according to Mike Connolly's article. I guess the $75,000 or so the University is losing by this decrease is a big deal.
No one is denying that higher education is expensive. Let's use the money we are given in the best way possible. Let's be a leader and go against the trend of increasing college costs. Use the Generations money to freeze tuition.
Stephen Carroll
freshman
Knott Hall
March 22, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, March 23, 2001
