ASMSU should not be focusing its efforts on breaking the tuition guarantee, but should work to get rid of the funding gap instead.

ASMSU’s Academic Assembly passed a measure last Tuesday to recommend the Board of Trustees alter MSU’s tuition guarantee, and the proposal recommends tuition increases for the next four years be held to the rate of inflation plus 2 percent.

ASMSU is the university’s undergraduate student government.

The tuition guarantee, instituted in 1994, states increases in tuition will not exceed the projected rate of inflation or consumer price index.

This proposal could be detrimental to many students who struggle to pay for college with tuition rates as they are. The tuition guarantee does a good job of keeping tuition at a steady rate throughout a student’s education and gives students an idea as to what they will be paying in the future.

This addition could take a big chunk of some students’ budgets and make it harder for them to attend college. College is already expensive for most students, and the university’s student government shouldn’t move to make it more expensive.

Proponents of the proposal say the tuition increase will help to improve the quality of education at MSU, but the quality of education is a subjective view and should be something ASMSU acts on only when a large majority of students express concerns about it.

Saying this proposal will help to improve the quality of education is not specific enough. The plan should specify what programs and areas of the university would directly benefit from a tuition increase. The plan could garner more support if students knew where their money was going.

Currently, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University receive more per-student funding from the state than MSU. The Michigan Legislature should be making efforts to close the funding gap between MSU, U-M and Wayne State, and each university should be treated the same by the state and given equal funding.

While the funding gap puts MSU at an unfair advantage when competing against other Michigan universities, raising tuition is not the way to solve this problem. ASMSU should make efforts to lobby Michigan lawmakers to close the gap so MSU can retain its competitiveness with other universities.

This proposal cannot be acted on by the Board of Trustees until the legislature appropriates funds to the university. ASMSU and the board should be making efforts to increase funding to the university now so a tuition increase is not necessary in the future.

Students deserve the best education they can get for their money. While a minor increase is expected in tuition each year, students should not be expected to make up for the state’s unfair appropriations.

ASMSU’s efforts to bring more funding to the university are admirable, but the current proposal is not what the university and its students need. Efforts should be made to decrease the funding gap and bring more funds to the university - but it should not be done by increasing tuition.