Bill Proposed to Curb College Costs, Pomona Administrators Unconcerned
By Caitlin Collins
Staff Writer

Despite being one of the wealthiest Colleges in the Nation, Pomona has been unable to escape the trend of increasing tuition in higher education. The College Board’s latest annual survey disclosed figures of raising tuition prices for colleges across the nation at the same time as a California Republican Congresssman has introduced a bill to penalize colleges and universities which raise tuition faster than the rate of inflation.

“I know that sometimes in states the issue of raising tuition is, in some sense, forced upon colleges and universities because states cut their level of funding,” said Dean of Students Ann Quinley. “You either have to cut your program way back or raise tuition.”

According to the College Board private universities like Pomona also raised tuition by 5 percent, adjusted for inflation, which may not seem out of the ordinary; however, this is the third consecutive year tuition has increased, at a rate more than twice that of inflation. At Pomona specifically, tuition was increased by approximately 4.3 percent from last year, with total student fees coming to $37,130 per year.

Both public universities and community colleges have increased tuition by 13 percent, the sharpest increases in the past few decades. These increases have largely been attributed to cuts in state spending on education.

While some have expressed concern about increasing college costs, Pomona junior Christopher Wilsion does not worry about the tuition increases. “I really don’t care very much about the tuition increase — Pomona pays all of my tuition anyway,” said Wilson.

To combat predictions that numerous low-income students will not be able to pursue college education if tuition fees remained unchecked, Howard P. McKeon (Rep. CA-25) has introduced a bill that would punish universities, public and private, for raising tuition much faster than inflation by withholding federal money. McKeon’s bill would create a “watch list” for universities that continually raised tuition more than twice the rate of inflation. If universities still did not comply, they could lose access to funding from federal grants and programs.

“I think the direct financial implications to us would probably not be significant,” said President David Oxtoby. “Our tuition increases have been in the lower end of our cohort and certainly, compared to state universities, way low.”

However, Oxtoby did express concern for the effects of the bill upon higher education in general.

“Pomona, like all institutions of higher education, thinks that government intervention in this fashion is not a good thing,” said Oxtoby. “Obviously we want to keep tuition increases down, but for the government to intervene and put in price controls, I think, would be a very dangerous step and one step towards government intervention in other areas too.”

According to The New York Times, if this bill were currently in effect, approximately 24 percent of the nation’s universities would be placed on the watch list.

“I guess I feel at this point that the bill is not likely to pass,” said Quinley. “It’s unconventional in the sense that it’s Congress functioning as a board of trustees for colleges and universities, which is certainly a much more intrusive regulation than we’ve seen before.”

Oxtoby also points out that colleges are offering more services to students now than ever before.

“That, of course, contributes to increases in tuition,” he said. “Students are paying more, but they are also getting more than they did ten or twenty years ago. Arbitrary formulas imposed by Congress will reduce the ability of colleges and universities to improve the nature of the education they provide.”

Whether passed or not, McKeon’s bill is an unusual step for Congress and is intended to gain the attention of universities across the nation.