Tuition Issues

Many people have been approaching me to talk about one of the ideas that we threw out there in our first campaign video--a tuition freeze. This idea was the product of several talks I have had with my dad about tuition, how I am going to pay for college, and his experience dealing with tuition at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois with my sister. Since then, I have had several talks with administrators and other students about the feasibility of this issue, and their serious concerns about it. It seems that this is not a policy that would be possible at all in the short term, but may not be out of the question in the very long-run.

First let me address this conceptually. Suppose we found the money to pay for such an initiative out of thin air, is this where that money could do the most good? After speaking about this a little more, it seems that improving financial aid packages would help students who need the help more, as opposed to a very small marginal benefit for all students.

To address this idea on the grounds of feasibility, there simply isn't the money to pay for such a proposal right now, but we can address the reason why there is no money for it, one of which is that the University has struggle in the past to make its endowment grow on a rate that compares with other peer institutions. Administrators have been actively working to change this with the Chicago Initiative and many new ideas out of the Development office. On a broader level, we need to ensure that students enjoy their time on this campus enough that they are excited about giving back to the university for the rest of their lives.

Thanks to all the people who raised these concerns, and if you still have issues, please comment on this post!