Tuition

Tuition is an issue of utmost concern especially during Pennsylvanias current financial situation. Our university faces the burden of a decrease in state aid towards higher education. Last year, students across the state saw their tuition bills increase by 5.5 to 9.9 percent depending on their institution. These continuous tuition increases must be curbed. The 2011-2012 budget for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cut more than $182 million dollars in appropriations from Penn States state allocation. We must do our part to inform our legislators of the importance of funding for higher education, following the trend of an inverse relationship between the decreases in budget cuts and increases in tuition. As student body President and Vice President, we will work with legislators and administrators to ease the effects of these cutbacks and assist in the prevention of future increases in appropriation cuts. In order to fulfill these goals, we must stand as a united student body. As a first step, we recognize the importance of lobbying the legislators of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. We will continue to voice our concerns regarding the importance of appropriations for higher education until the final budget for 2012-2013 is passed. It is our job to inform the student body about how they can reach out to their legislators. It is our job to rally and encourage students to go to Harrisburg to speak to these legislators in person. It is our job to further conversations to create change for our university. Having our opinions displayed directly in Harrisburg will inform legislators that we will no longer settle with having constant reductions to our appropriations. It is essential that we restrain the State of Pennsylvania from limiting our appropriations further. We are committed to fostering closer relationships between the student body, administrators, and legislators. It is our duty to ensure that these relationships are upheld. We have already built some of these bonds through our regular meetings with multiple members of the Penn State administration, and we have begun to take a more active role in Harrisburg by attending Capital Day. As your student body President and Vice President, we will inform, unite, and guide Penn State to our legislators so that they better understand the significance of higher education. In doing so we will continue to fight against reductions to Penn States appropriations.