Provost Neil Kerwin announced this week that students can expect a 4.5 to 6.5 percent increase in tuition for each of the next two years, based on the expected university budget. The increase reflects AU's rising status in college-ranking lists, and the money is intended to go toward finishing the Katzen Arts Center, building a new School of International Service building and improving the University's library. Kerwin said housing price is also increasing but declined to name a price.
We realize that the expected increase is close to the standard university tuition increase, but we wish AU would focus more on improving alumni donations to pay for campus improvements. At most universities, donors are lined up to pay for construction and have buildings named after them before building planning starts. However, AU is looking at building a new SIS building without knowing where the money is coming from yet.
Alumni donating has improved in recent years from previously anemic totals, but it is still well below where it should be for a university of AU's stature. To an extent, we as students are paying customers, and it's up to the administration to create a situation and atmosphere that makes alumni want to give money when they're gone. The fact that AU allows donors to choose where they want their money to go is a good idea that fosters donations.
That AU wants to pour money into itself shows initiative for improvement, but it seems more interested in improving the facilities than improving the education it offers. In the long run, students are investing in their education, not in AU's real estate. However, administration seems more concerned with improving its standing in the U.S. News & World Report college ranking than in tangibly improving its students' education.
One significant example is the current situation with adjunct professors. The school is looking to get rid of adjuncts and have more full-time tenured professors in order to improve its rankings. However, adjunct professors are one of the unique things that make an AU education so valuable. Adjuncts are current professionals in the field in which they teach, so they can offer unique insights that full-time professors cannot. In forcing out adjuncts that do not want to become full-time professors, AU is chasing away some of the best teachers it has. It's understandable to want to cut the number of adjuncts (indeed, college rankings are weighted toward full-time professors because adjuncts tend to be inexperienced recent graduates), but AU should not blindly rid itself of all adjuncts.
Another overlooked factor of AU's rising tuition and rising ranking is that as the school becomes more expensive and more selective, it limits who can attend. This is especially a problem if AU's financial aid office is not significantly improved. The diversity that AU so highly touts will suffer even more, as only the richest could afford to attend.
In all, though, while improvements cost students money, it will come back to us years down the road when AU is more respected and our diplomas are more valuable. Just as students in the past had to fund the changes that made campus what it is for us today, so too will we have to give our money for improvements we won't be here to see.
This can already be seen with the Katzen Arts Center, which is not even completed yet. The mere specter of it being here has almost overnight vaulted AU into the category of top arts schools in America. The School of Communication and SIS are both excellent programs with shoddy facilities right now; new facilities will allow their reputations to catch up with their real value.
We all came to AU knowing that tuition would go up every year. While AU is taking more money out of our wallets, it is at the same time giving us more back.
