Op-Ed Tuition increases don't help students

Author: Alaina Robertson

The administration and the student body need to critically think about the new rise in the comprehensive fee. "It still only covers 68 percent of the real cost"Öso what! Why does the administration need another $1.5 million a year? Do we really need bigger and better shows? Can't we be satisfied with our great campus and local bands? How necessary are all of our frivolities? We're here for an education, right?

A $2,220 increase may not seem like a lot when viewed against the $44,330 already paid for a Middlebury education, but think about it this way: The 2006 median household income was $46,326. The tuition for one year of Middlebury now exceeds the total income of over 50% of the households in the US. Though Middlebury was never cheap to begin with, increasing the tuition so dramatically is simply closing the door to that many more students who come from families where a 5.25 percent increase makes a difference.

Middlebury prides itself on its "diversity," after all, 30 percent of the class of 2010 were minorities or international students and 42 percent of students receive financial aid. But if you look at the average aid package ($26,732) that means that the average student on financial aid can still pay $17,598. No family making under $50,000 can afford to put this much money toward a college education. So a very generous estimation would be that 20 percent of the student body comes from that 50 percent of the country who makes an average living. Where does this put Middlebury? Not in a diverse situation, that's for sure. Why are we moving toward more elitism? The income gap is diverging and every time Middlebury raises its tuition it is excluding another fraction of the population that just can't work out paying an extra thousand dollars or so. We need to ask ourselves, what the value of an institution like Middlebury is when it is educating and enabling only the children of the upper class - these kids were already guaranteed some level of security and success anyway.

The counter argument is that Middlebury covers 100 percent of financial need. Did they ever tell you that they establish that need? The aid calculations are not very realistic. For example, the FAFSA will establish that a household making $40,000 with two children in college is expected to spend 14% of their household income on the parental contribution. Do you think that the parents can make ends meet with the $34,500 that leaves them with? (No, parents will most likely choose to send their kids to a place where they can cut costs with off-campus housing, no expensive meal plan, and more employment opportunities than a place like Middlebury.)

Diversity is not just about race or ethnicity, it is about class. Middlebury fails miserably on this one. If Middlebury tried to reduce their comprehensive fee, rather than skyrocket it, they would surely find more real diversity in the student body. The "bubble" that we joke about would become less of a bubble of isolation from the real world if Midd tried a little harder to re-create the real-world demographics of the US. There are brilliant, Midd-deserving (and Midd-capable) students in every socio-economic level, why aren't they here?

Alaina Robertson is a sophomore who hails from Bellevue, Wash.