When MSU was founded in 1855, it was heralded as a "land-grant institution," making it affordable for middle-class families to get an education.
Now, 150 years later, the university needs to seriously rethink its title.
It's becoming increasingly more difficult for middle-class students to pay the rising tuition rates. Many students will leave college in debt. This is hardly isolated to MSU, but as it stands now, "land grant" is just a label.
The university must strive to continue to earn its title. Just because the school was founded as a land-grant college doesn't mean it is one now.
But unfortunately, the money just isn't there. Some students try to push for lower tuition rates through letter writing and lobbying in Lansing, but the fact of the matter is the government won't listen. Their likely response: "It's college. Tuition rates go up every year. Get used to it."
MSU ranked tied for 39th in "Great schools, great prices," in U.S. News & World Report last year. Things are much worse elsewhere.
That said, the fact that MSU is more affordable than many universities doesn't mean it lives up to its original mission of bringing affordable, quality education to the middle class.
It's not that we believe the school or government enjoys having to raise rates or lower funding, but the money isn't there to take away from other programs to syphon into higher education.
No one likes raising tuition. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon isn't about to drive off in a Ferrari anytime soon because of tuition hikes.
The university isn't making a huge profit off tuition, if they are making one at all. The government would like to fund schools better as well, but there are other programs with greater needs.
The current state economy makes it hard to maneuver funds to other programs. But, even if the money was there, the greater human good lies elsewhere.
It sucks, but there are greater needs than those of poor college students.
If there was more money for education, it should be used for K-12 schools, not to give college students money back.
Both are worthy causes, but it's much more important to provide a proper high school education than it is to give college students (and the parents that finance them in many cases) a break on tuition.
Perhaps there is nothing MSU can do to lower tuition rates. That doesn't make a 13.5-percent rate hike for incoming students and a 9.3-percent raise for returning students any more affordable.
The only solution is to find a better model on which to run the university, which is just not a viable option at this point.
No amount of letters or petitions are going to change that in the near future. It stinks, but students will likely just have to deal with rate increases.