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College Expenses Keep On Climbing

College Expenses Keep On Climbing image
Parent Issue
Day
25
Month
April
Year
1975
OCR Text

A four-day student boycott of classes at Brown University in Rhode Island to protest a cut in scholarship funds brought classes to a standstill last week. The Student Coalition Coordinating Committee may plan further demonstrations shortly.

The students were angered over proposed higher tuition (up 11.4% from this year), room and board rates, bringing costs for next fall up to $5,750. At the same time financial aid programs will be reduced, serving to exclude lower income students, particularly blacks, from attending Brown.

"We don't want Brown to be an exclusively white, elitist school," said one student supporting the increased Third World enrollment which had resulted from student activism in the late 60s.

The proposed budget with cuts in financial aid, student services and faculty positions, was adopted intact last Saturday by the Advisory and Executive Committee of Brown. The only minor concession to student demands was formation of a committee on minority affairs to evaluate the Ivy League University's progress in increasing enrollment of Third World students.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan will also be short of funds for financial aid during the 1974-75 school year. Officials from the Financial Aids office announced that money will run approximately $5 million short of meeting true student need.

"We don't print money here," said President Robben Fleming of the report which indicates more students will be asking for less funds.

University officials placed part of the blame on the federal government. Which has decreased funding for high education grant and loan programs. Several bills are now pending in Congress which could increase federal programs to support needy students.

If these fail to pass, however, many students may find they are not able to obtain sufficient help to pay the average $3,200 for instate (or $5,000 for out-of-state) student expenses. An expected tuition increase may further increase costs next fall. While University officials claim they will attempt to fund programs for low-income students, the lack of money for financial aid is bound to keep the University of Michigan as a school predominantly for the white, upper income classes who alone will be able to afford the high rates.