A K LEO T H E
FRIDAY, SEPT. 13 to SUNDAY, SEPT 15, 2013 VOLUME 109 ISSUE 7
Serving the students of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
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Students take action against tuition hikes
(L to R) Er Dong Ni, Xiao Wu, Sean Mitsui, Ian Ross , Wei Lianbi and Rep. John Mizuno are working to pass a bill against tuition hikes at UH. COURTESY OF IAN ROSS
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According to a “Per-credit-hour and fulltime semester tuition schedule” on the Board of Regents website, undergraduate resident tuition at UH Mānoa is set to increase about 5.5 percent from academic years 2012-13 to
On Aug. 26, Ross led a rally in Mā noa’s Campus Center to “get the information out to students,” according to Mitsui. Ross and Mitsui rallied with other students against the increasing tuition in general. “I personally believe that the tuition increase is too high for ever yone, and I support keeping tuition low for all students,” Ross said.
“What we need to do is get more students, you know, get them to understand what’s going on,” Ross said. “Get them talking about it. And pretty much, put together everything we need to rally bigger and stronger by the time the legislation gets here.” Mizuno agreed. “What’s next is rally the students – to rally and unite the students to support introduction and passage of this bill for the tuition freeze,” Mizuno said. “The students, this is on them. If they want this to pass, step up and do it.”
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THE COST OF TUITION
T H E C A M P U S C E N T E R R A L LY
LOOKING AHEAD
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In March 2013, Ross began discussing the tuition hikes with Mizuno and worked with him during the summer, planning a piece of legislation. Mizuno plans to propose freezing UH’s resident tuition for the 2014-15 academic year. “It’s just too much,” Mizuno said in a phone interview. “You’ve got five years in a row that the Board of Regents have approved of tuition hikes. That’s just too much, and in the last three
The College of Arts and Sciences senator is planning to propose a resolution to ASUH at the end of September. Mitsui’s resolution will request a freeze on resident tuition for the 201415 school year as well as a financial audit. “In my perspective, this is the number one issue that students are concerned about, and I believe ASUH is obligated to have an official opinion and official stance on it – this issue,” Mitsui said. Mitsui said he hopes to see the resolution passed and have a consolidated goal so he can work with the student senate more. “Right now it’s only me and a couple of other people on ASUH who are willing to work with this issue,” Mitsui said. “But if we have an official paper to state that we’re all in support of this issue, it’ll be easier to work with the state legislature and the university.”
Dozens of students attended the rally, according to Ross. “There’s a lot of people who really want to get involved because this is an exciting idea,” Ross said. “And as you know, the legislature has been wanting to address some of the issues with UH.” He believes the rally will be successful because he and the other participants in the rally are working for a plan. “Now we’re rallying for a plan,” Ross said. “We have a bill drafted. We understand how things move forward and we have a positive message about how to get there. … We’re doing more than just saying ‘We don’t like plan A.’ We’re offering plan B.”
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A P P ROAC H I N G T H E L E G I S L AT U R E
BRINGING THE HIKES TO ASUH
2013-14, and about 7.5 percent for each year up until 2016-17. Undergraduate residents attending UH Mānoa full-time currently pay $4,572 a semester. Non-residents pay $13,356. Undergraduate non-resident tuition will increase by about 5.5 percent each year until 2016-17. These tuition rates were approved by the BOR in October 2011 and issued in March 2013, according to the schedule. Sen. Brian Taniguchi, Chair of the Senate’s Committee on Higher Education, said the UH administration’s reason for the tuition increases was to make tuition comparable to public institutions in the United States. UH system director of communication Jodi Leong said that the tuition schedule was adopted for five years to give students and their parents the ability to plan. “There are two sources of revenue that pay for the cost of education: state appropriation and tuition,” Leong said in an email. “The state has not been able to keep UH’s appropriation at the same level as it has in the past due to competing state needs.”
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With tuition rising about 35 percent during a five-year period, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students are bringing their rally against these hikes to the student government and state legislature. “We’re rallying against (the tuition hikes) because we can see that students are hurting and we want to see a more balanced method of funding the university,” UH Mānoa senior Ian Ross said. Ross and Associated Students of the University of Hawai‘i Senator sophomore Sean Mitsui, who will be proposing a resolution to ASUH, worked with Vice Speaker of the House John Mizuno to bring the issue to the state legislature. “It’s necessary,” Mitsui said. “If it’s just a student government we’re not going to have much influence because we’re not going to have the power to change the entire school, but the legislature has because the school definitely falls under the state’s rule because it receives tax funds. And they have a right to know how the university is spending its own money.”
years, they’re going up 7.5, 7.5, 7.5.” Mizuno said he foresees UH students dropping out due to the high tuition cost. “We need to ensure that our residents have a very good state system to give them a higher education and allow them adequate ability to obtain the college degree, but that doesn’t happen,” he said.
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NOELLE F UJII News Editor
Read an extended version of this article at kaleo.org