The Issue:

Just this Valentine’s Day, the Administration and Finance Committee of the UMass Board of Trustees approved a proposal for student charges for the 2007-2008 academic year. This measure, put forth by President Jack M. Wilson, would increase tuition and mandatory fees by 3.4 percent, which is in-fact lower than the current inflation rate at 3.6 percent. (as reported by the Consumer Price Index.)

UMass students graduate with the lowest levels of accumulated debt, according to University statistics. Yet at the same time, our price of attendance will be going up several hundred dollars, while the state’s contribution to UMass is lower than it was in 2000. Where should money come from? How much is too much? Are students unfairly griping?

The entire UMass Board of Trustees will convene on March 14th to decide on the proposal. But before they do, we want opinions from you. We urge you to give us two-hundred words on your position – we’ll take the best ones and print them in Friday’s paper along with some of our own in hopes of getting a collective and fair analysis of the proposal. We look forward to reading.

Send us a Letter to the Editor with your response.