NJIT Vector

Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: News

"New Jersey has a government its people cannot afford," said Governor Corzine dourly earlier this year. These words in front of a quiet assembly are what suggested that there were plans for a new budget cut. In the last 50 years, it cut would be the fifth budget that New Jersey would undergo.

For NJIT, it means that state funding to the college will receive more cuts, from an already 10 percent loss in funds. "This is a huge problem," said Baker Assaf, president of NJIT Student Senate, because with less funding "the school is forced to make up for it by increasing tuition…and offering fewer sections [of courses]."

The problem has already been noticed by students. "Because there were very few sections being offered for some of my required courses," comments Rhammi Elshazli, freshman biology major, on fall registration. "I had to redo my schedule many times before I got it the way I needed it to be."

Freshman Mandeep Singh, who works a part time job to pay for his tuition, has also noticed the impact of the budget cuts. "The way financial policies are being made, education might soon become something not for those who can understand the intricacies of the subject matter, but only for those who can afford to buy the books on the subject matter."

"Understanding the value of education is a whole different game and has nothing to do with money," he adds.

The amount of tuition paid for by students or by the state has changed dramatically between 1994 and 2007. Essentially, the two figures switched places after 2000 and the amounts grow more distant, as students pay more each year and state funds fall each year.

In 1994, students paid for 43 percent of their education and the state covered the remaining 57 percent. In the 2007 fiscal year, however, students paid 64 percent of tuition costs and the state provided only 36 percent, after a $143 million dollar cut to state colleges and universities that year.

There are plans for another $96.8 million cut to colleges in the 2009 fiscal year, which will affect the tuition rates for the fall 2008 semester. In just three years, from 2004 to 2007, the average tuition of New Jersey public colleges jumped from $5,754 to $7,083.

Some speculate that the rates of tuition will increase significantly in the future, unless something is done. NJIT President Robert Altenkirch confirms that "it is likely that a tuition increase comparable to what has been implemented in the past few years will be needed," but is uncertain as to what the degree of change will be in the tuition.

Continued...

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