Stand alone as Catholic university by making education affordable
Steve Ponisciak
Durham, N.C.
We would like to focus on two items from Wednesday's Observer article headlined, "ND 2001-2002 tuition hike lowest since 1959." First, "This year's increase is the lowest since 1959, when there was no increase from the previous year."
Why can't you do better than that? Why are you satisfied with "the lowest since 1959" and not willing to make it the lowest ever? Why can't you freeze tuition?
"Officials said Notre Dame charges remain far below those of similar private institutions."
Why are you proud of this? Why are you concerned about "similar private institutions"? Why can't this be another area where Notre Dame is content to be different from the rest of the pack? Referring back to Mike Connolly's column in the March 8 edition of The Observer, if we assume that the endowment only earns 1 percent interest ($35 million), and that there are 8,014 undergraduates, then you should be able to decrease tuition by at least $4,367. It's simple math.
Using the same simple math, if the Board of Trustees continues to accept the "lowest increase since 1959," 4.9 percent per year, the cost of one year of undergraduate education at Notre Dame in 25 years (by which time many recent alumni will have college-age children) will be $100,951.79. I'm ignoring inflation (the rate of which is much smaller than the rate at which you are increasing tuition and fees), I know, but give people (future students' parents, some of whom, like us, are alumni) a break.
Does it really have to cost that much? Like many alumni, each of us hopes that a Notre Dame education will be a possibility for our children when that time comes. But when policies such as the consistent increase in cost (well ahead of inflation) are in place, I don't see how that will be possible without being crippled by the weight of massive loans.
Ask yourself this — is Notre Dame's mission to be among the best private institutions (which happens to be Catholic), or is it to be the best Catholic institution (which happens to be private)? Judging by the University's mission statement, the latter seems to be true. That means a Notre Dame education should be affordable to the many American Catholic and non-Catholic families, for whom $30,530 is a large sum of money.
Steve Ponisciak
Durham, N.C.
Dan Cichalski
Little Silver, N.J.
Brad Prendergast
Chicago, Ill.
class of '98
March 27, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, March 28, 2001
