Published: Monday, April 20, 2009 in The Whitworthian.

If you were a fly on the wall of Whitworth University’s Complaint Room, perhaps the one gripe you’d hear the most would be how tuition rises every year. Senior year costs you a discouraging percentage more than your freshman year.

Some of this is just a fact of life in our economic system. Inflation forces some level of tuition hikes. Another reason stems from Whitworth’s status as a private university. While most of use wouldn’t have it any other way, Whitworth relies on tuition as its main source of income in lieu of the government funding that state schools receive.

Most students realize that the rising price of education is an inevitability, but complaints are still hard to shake.

One solution to tuition inflation that many schools have explored is a fixed tuition program. While the exact details of such programs vary from school to school, the foundational principle is the same: rather than charge a floating tuition that changes from year to year, the school enters into a contract of sorts with incoming students which guarantees them a fixed rate for a predetermined amount of time, typically four years.

This is usually accomplished by charging incoming students who opt for a fixed tuition contract a percentage more than standard tuition. The idea being that while they’re paying more for their first year, by the time they graduate they’ll be paying less for their last year than their variable tuition counterparts.

The goal with these programs usually isn’t to save students money, especially in the case of private universities (the bills still have to be paid, after all) but to prevent students from dropping out when they receive that dreaded tuition letter in their mailbox. If students know what they’re getting into when they sign the contract, there aren’t any nasty surprises that can cause a reevaluation of their education budget.

At face value, this seems like a great idea and some of its perks are undeniable. Fixed tuition would ensure that any scholarship money you received as an incoming student doesn’t lose its value over time. It would also be easier on the ones writing the tuition checks: knowing the college budget is going to stay largely the same over the student’s time at school can be reassuring, especially in times of economic strife.

Sophomore Tyler Whitney, recently a candidate for ASWU president, believes strongly that fixed tuition would be a positive thing for Whitworth.

“Whitworth students would gain the advantage of being able to anticipate what their expenses would be for their college years,” he said.

On the other hand, fixed tuition often ends up costing schools more than can be justified. Although fixed tuition programs attempt to account for future inflation and other cost increases, unpredictable events such as the recent economic crisis can turn even the most conservative budget on its head. Georgia’s state schools won’t be offering a fixed tuition program for new incoming students next fall; many other schools are following suit.

Another danger is that it could negatively affect the school’s applicant pool. Fixed tuition has to be higher than normal tuition for the first two years or so. While it looks nice on paper to say that it will all end up being a wash at the end of four years, the fact remains that many people aren’t willing to pay more up front. And even if fixed tuition was offered merely as an option, when placed next to each other fixed tuition is still more expensive while normal tuition looks like a poor financial decision.

The bottom line is there really isn’t an easy win-win tuition program out there. Either the students foot the bill, or the school does. And while tuition spikes aren’t any fun, students should realize that they’re a fact of life.

Most people aren’t at Whitworth because it’s easy on the wallet; they’re here for a top-notch education in a unique and compelling environment. While I would welcome a fixed tuition program at Whitworth, I think most would agree that it wouldn’t be worth putting the school at risk financially.