When do you get to the point where you're a student in college, and you are actually worried about the quality of your education?
I'm getting old. And it's not in the Dick Clarkian "wow-she's-aging-gracefully" kind of way. My age was something I prided myself for being consistent throughout my life. It seemed like every 365 days, I aged about a year.
That was a simpler time.
In the last year, my age has skyrocketed, shooting well past where I should be chronologically - a 21-year-old college kid - toward the likes of Pat Benetar and Keith Richards, 76 and 108 respectively. It's like watching "Cocoon" in reverse.
Case 1: I left a bar last Thursday because there were too many young people there. It's almost shameful to admit, but I did pop by the local bar with a reputation for underage patrons the other night to visit some friends. Don't pretend you didn't hang out there when you were freshmen; we all did.
There could not have been more neon lights, pelvic grinding or beer spilling. Those nights used to be an adventure; now they're a headache.
Case 2: I can tell the weather because my joints get sore. Freakishly useful if there's a storm a-brewing, but otherwise just a telltale sign I've suffered too many sprained ankles. Plus, I feel like this Nostradamus-like ability will detract from my age-acquired love of the Weather Channel. Truly, a senior citizen's Catch 22.
Case 3: When I heard about the tuition increases and the TAP and EOP cuts, my first thought was about what this will do to the quality of my education. I think that's when it really hit home that I was getting old.
Three years ago, I would have wondered how this would affect the acts coming to Spring and Fall Fests. Rest easy, freshmen, it won't affect them in the slightest.
**Pause for the mass sigh of relief from the Wilkeson Quadrangle.**
These cuts, the increase and New York's fiscal crisis all come at the most inopportune time. It's like getting punched three times in the stomach, and for someone as old as I, that can mean the loss of a kidney.
But I have said it time and time again - I am in favor of a tuition increase. To keep with the progress we've made in bioinformatics, medical research, admission standards and overall quality of the university in the past several few years, we have to shell out some moolah. Inflation alone dictates that the price will go up, regardless of help from the state or tuition assistance cuts.
But here's one of my big worries: UB has spent a lot of time trying to raise admission standards, and until this point has done a good job of it. Will the cuts and the tuition hike lessen the applicant pool, forcing UB to lower admission standards?
The Spectrum reported earlier this year that the average SAT score of an applicant in 2002 was 1160, a figure that has risen 26 points since 1997. When I came to school here in 1999, the university admitted 82 percent of applicants. Last year, they took 67.2 percent. Sean Sullivan, vice provost for academic information and planning, has said the university hopes to drop that admission rate to 60 percent by 2004.
I just don't know if that can happen anymore. I don't see UB maintaining its choosy standards, when I don't see the same number applying next fall.
However, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Kerry Grant said even if the projected New York State budget goes through, forcing the $1,200 tuition increase, it will not affect the level of quality of the institution.
"There only would be two ways to protect students from the effects of the state budget," he said.
The first option is to decrease the quality of the university and the services it provides. My arthritic knee tells me this is a bad idea.
The second option is to raise tuition. Nuts to that.
"Of the two, I would actually favor raising the tuition, because I think it is ultimately what the students would prefer, whether at the moment it's what they would favor or not," said Grant.
Despite the $1,200 gouge in my wallet, I agree with him.
Grant said that while the cuts will temporarily hurt the bank accounts of students and parents, UB will not have to sacrifice academic quality. According to him, Provost Elizabeth Capaldi has ensured that only 1 percent of cuts were taken from the costs of the academic programs.
So, essentially, I will be paying more money for the same product. Wow, what a great deal; thank goodness I opted for the five-year plan.
But here's my thought: at least I'm not going to pay more money for less education, and if the university can guarantee that my 2004 diploma will be as valuable as one from 2003, I'm fine with it.
I am simply skeptical that there will be a large enough applicant pool for the university to remain as selective as it has become.
What happens if $4,600 becomes too much for students to afford? After the last tuition hike in 1995, enrollment dipped, presumably due to the price.
"On the value side, for me as an academic administrator, I want to be able to have the quality education as a first priority," Grant said. "As a father of college students, I would just as soon have the smallest share to pay as I can get."
Personally, I am ridiculously fortunate to have parents who help me pay for college. So, I am not too worried about the money. When it comes to it, I will take out more loans, I will work during the summer; I will find a way to pay tuition.
Grant says he thinks that's how it will work for the rest of the students, too. In his eyes, need- and merit-based scholarships and loans will step up to the plate to help out students hurt by the tuition hike.
However, I'm not sure where I fall in the mix of students. I know I'm lucky by comparison to many. My weather-related prophesizing joints tell me I'll be fine; I just wish I could say the same for the rest of the student body.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
