The University of St.Thomas’ undergraduate tuition is currently $38,720. This is no small amount of money, and students not only at St. Thomas but across the country are starting to pressure universities into becoming more transparent about where their money is going.
At the beginning of the school year, the University of St.Thomas’ student government asked students which issues they would most like to see the members of USG address, a majority of those students responded with financial transparency. This overwhelming interest confirms that there has clearly been a disconnect between St.Thomas administrators and their students when it comes to tuition distribution.
Students have every right to know exactly what their tuition is covering. For some, it may be the most expensive purchase they make in their lifetime. Not only is it important for universities to be transparent so that they can build trust with their students, but it also creates a more apparent value for students’ education and makes the decision to invest in an often expensive college degree a legitimate one.
Students enrolled in universities across the country have been creating tuition transparency tasks forces, feeling that they deserve the right to know the breakdown of their tuition. In 2012, students at Boston University collected signatures with support from Harvard University students, asking state legislators in Massachusetts to support a bill that promoted increased tuition transparency. The bill, like others of the same nature, never passed. This begs the question, why? Why does it sometimes feel like pulling teeth to get universities to release this information. It leaves students wondering what is being hidden from them or if they are wasting their money. This feeling can then lead to students wondering if a college education is even worth the money, especially when prices increase every year.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, from the academic year of 2012-13 to 2014-2015, the national average increase in tuition was 6.6 percent. President Sullivan recently sent out an email about tuition expenses, stating that the University of St. Thomas’ undergraduate comprehensive fee would increase in the coming year by 3.7 percent.
While President Sullivan ends the email saying, “It is my hope that this overview provides transparency into our investment priorities and key budget assumptions,” members of the student government have still been inquiring information about where their money is going. They have already gathered roughly 600 student answers to questions about where they would like to see more transparency in their tuition. After they finish collecting data, they plan to meet with Chief Financial Officer Mark Vangsgard to see how they can relieve student concerns.
This is definitely a step in the right direction for St. Thomas, however, I would argue a step that should have been done by administrators a while back. The hesitancy from not only St. Thomas, but universities around the country is leaving students wondering if they’re getting scammed or if the massive amount of loans they are taking out are even worth it. Without transparency about where our money is going, the value decreases in our minds, making us question the legitimacy of our expensive education.
Sam Miner can be reached at mine0034@stthomas.edu