THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
For better or worse, the financial fate of public higher education lies with politicians. So when most college students are politically apathetic, as a recent national poll indicates, they are choosing not to play a game whose outcome, nonetheless, profoundly affects them.
Just last week, it wasn't a plumber or an athlete or an accountant who proposed that Virginia restrict annual college-tuition increases to the inflation rate or less. It was a politician, Gov. George F. Allen.
Should students back the governor's proposal?
Why not? Only two states have higher in-state tuitions than Virginia. The part a Virginia public-college student pays toward his or her education has skyrocketed since 1990 from just under a third - the traditional rate in the commonwealth - to one-half.
On the other hand, under the governor's proposed budget only five states would pay less per higher-education student than Virginia. So if tuitions are frozen, except to allow for inflation, and if state funds dwindle, might Virginia's proud colleges be starved till eventually they are second-rate?
The answers, while far from simple, remain crucial.
People keep themselves informed about approaching hurricanes, the better to protect themselves. Politicians are hurricanes that never stop blowing, and the only defenses are knowledge and action. Apathy is surrender. by CNB