Is there a future for Tufts?

munity colleges, enrollment and graduation declines have continued because prospective students find the opportunity cost of tuition too high compared to money they can make immediately out of high school.

Tufts, as a private institution, has done little to remedy these concerns. For-profit institutions are largely the ones driving tuition hikes; from 2010 to 2020, tuition at these colleges increased 233.8% while the overall rate of tuition increase was just 12.1%. While not a for-profit university, Tufts has been consistently increasing tuition year-over-year for at least the past decade.

This is problematic, as Tufts’ identity is built on building a diverse community of active citizens. However, Black, Hispanic and low-income students are those most disproportionately affected by declines in college enrollment. By raising the cost barrier, Tufts makes it harder for marginalized students to attend. Even with Tufts’ pledge to meet 100% of need, one-fifth of all undergraduate students are still receiving federal student loans. Moreover, Tufts has proportionally fewer students on grant aid (40%) than neigh- condemned American hegemony. Worryingly, Beijing has allegedly considered further expanding its trading repertoire with Moscow by selling weapons — including artillery shells and attack drones — to Russia. Arming Russia would officially end any pretense of Chinese neutrality and undoubtedly provoke a series of Western sanctions against Beijing. Instead, China should work to broker a realistic peace treaty with Russia and Ukraine, asserting itself as the world’s foremost diplomatic leader at a time when geopolitical tides are turning in favor of the developing world and the Global South. Given Russia’s military ineptitude and the severe consequences that would accompany such a decision, Beijing should resist the urge to send arms to Moscow. Arming Russia would be a rash mistake that would compromise China’s position in regions where it seeks to grow its influence. China bors like Harvard (55%) and MIT (58%). works to consolidate soft power in countries in the Global South by presenting itself as a respecter of national autonomy, but arming Russia discredits the claim that Beijing pursues a foreign policy based on respect for territorial integrity. Moreover, Putin has proven himself to be impulsive and irrational over the course of the war, unraveling his previous reputation as a military strategist as well as Russia’s reputation as a global superpower. To put it simply, China would sacrifice a great deal of political clout in selling arms to Russia, and Moscow has not proven itself worthy of such a high-stakes investment. Instead of investing its political and economic capital into risky war efforts, China would benefit most from brokering a peace agreement to end the war. Beijing’s original 12-point plan calls for an end to unilateral sanctions but does not call for the restoration

When looking at college rankings, the social mobility component largely favors schools that take in low-income students and produce economic growth. Of course, Tufts and its peers trend towards the lower end, as they take in many wealthy students, but Tufts in particular ranks almost 100 spots lower than Harvard and MIT.

Tufts as an institution also highly values academic curiosity, or encouraging students to think creatively and freely through their liberal arts education. However, a changing college climate makes it harder and harder for students to do that.

OP-ED

As increasing STEM job growth has made computer science, physics and engineering degrees much more rewarding, Tufts has shifted its approach as well. Recent construction has included the Science and Engineering Complex, which opened in 2017, and the Joyce Cummings Center, which opened in February 2022. Moreover, Tufts infamously grants engineering students priority registration for classes, and they often take up spots in humanities and social science classes that are required for other students in order to fulfill their own HASS requirements. Interestingly, the earlier registration slot for engineering students first appears on of territory to Ukraine, making it a non-starter for Kyiv. In contrast, a realistic peace plan could involve the restoration of Ukrainian territory in exchange for favorable trade agreements for Moscow and multilateral negotiations to provide guarantees for future Ukrainian sovereignty in exchange for Ukraine promising never to join NATO. Given that Russian propaganda blamed the onset of the war on NATO expansion, this agreement would give Putin a political ‘out’ and allow him to claim the war ended on his terms.

China would reap political rewards in the Global South by successfully negotiating a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Beijing recently announced a Global Security Initiative, which detailed an ambition to assert itself in global peace talks, especially in the Global South. Alliances in the Global South can benefit China through trade, the academic calendar in April 2018, before which registration for undergraduate and graduate students began on the same day. increased influence in multilateral institutions and potential military bases in the event of future Chinese expansion. China recently made waves with its involvement in the peace agreement between longtime rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, but other efforts to resolve conflicts in developing nations such as Afghanistan and Myanmar have been unsuccessful. However, were China to successfully broker a peace deal to end the RussiaUkraine war, it would send a message to developing countries that China is a more viable partner for diplomacy than the American-led Western alliance. If Xi is a truly rational actor, he should back up his statement that Beijing is a benevolent broker of peace.

Ironically, this helps low-income students, despite compromising Tufts’ values. It is true that because low-income students do not have a financial safety net, they more often choose to study STEM fields that can lead to higher incomes.

Herein lies the problem: Tufts’ success depends on its wealth. Right now, it does not appear that Tufts’ culture of liberal arts education is sustainable, and Tufts’ administration has taken significant steps in order to combat it. Whether this is an indictment of the perceived ‘uselessness’ of liberal arts degrees or of Tufts itself is up for debate. Tufts’ internal renovations and admissions policies such as growing minority enrollment and going test-optional are pertinent to its goal of diversity. However, case studies of tuition hikes and the School of Engineering’s growth demonstrate that Tufts’ liberal arts identity can’t coexist with a student market that demands both accessible education and an aid to their social mobility.