Despite rise, aid lags behind tuition hikes
The College Board statistics on university tuition and student aid released last week showed that, while increases in college costs are slowing, financial aid increases still not enough to accommodate students.
The board found that tuition and fee increases are still steepest at public four-year institutions, rising about 7 percent for the 2005-06 academic year. Meanwhile, two-year public universities experienced a 5-percent increase and private four-year universities rose nearly 6 percent. The increase of room and board costs at public four-year universities was also the steepest, at 6 percent.
Although college costs are growing, the latest numbers show that the price of higher education is leveling off, according to a College Board press release. But while this year’s increases were “significantly smaller” than in previous years, the College Board found that student-aid growth is still not improving enough to reduce students’ reliance on loans.
Last year, the College Board reported that financial support numbered almost $129 billion in federal, state and campus-based student aid. In addition, private sources provided $14 billion in loans nationally in 2004-05. Even though student aid has increased dramatically since last year, it still grows at a slower rate than tuition and fees, the College Board reported.
‘Koala TV’ airs new pornography segment
As a part of his “Koala TV” segment on UCSD’s Student-Run Television, John Muir College senior Steve York aired a 30-minute broadcast containing sexual activity on Oct. 20. York’s show featured sexual content on SRTV last spring, prompting the A.S. Council to pass a resolution condemning his program. This year, Commissioner of Student Services Maurice Junious drafted a proposed addition to the SRTV charter that would have prohibited “graphic depictions of sexual activity involving nudity,” though it was rejected in a vote by the council.
The council did, however, hold an additional council meeting on Oct. 23, in which multiple councilmembers addressed concerns over York’s latest broadcast.
Academic Senate mulls scholarships
The UCSD Academic Senate will once again take up the issue of athletic scholarships at its first meeting of the year on Oct. 25.
Discussion of the proposal to create scholarships to meet NCAA Division II standards began last spring, but the senate decided to table the decision until its next meeting. Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Joseph W. Watson, who drafted the proposal, said last year that adherence to NCAA regulation would benefit all UCSD students by increasing school pride and spirit.
“In current comparisons, UCSD does well in academic categories, but not as well as UC Berkeley, UCLA and Stanford in student life, where sports and academic excellence are combined,” he stated in the senate’s agenda.
The proposal was met with opposition from some campus groups, which said the proposal was not developed enough to be approved.
“The GSA cannot support this proposal until an open dialogue occurs and a complete plan is created that ensures that the financial burden created by student-athlete grants-in-aid would not be a burden on other programs,” former GSA Vice President Laura Kwinn stated in the senate’s agenda.
