VCU can save students money
As the nation’s elected officials debate how best to address the country’s mounting financial problems, the rest of us are already beginning to deal with our own personal cutbacks. As the Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s proposed budget has highlighted, there will be reductions across the board for public programs, including a 15 percent budget cut in funding to institutions of higher learning.
As the nation’s elected officials debate how best to address the country’s mounting financial problems, the rest of us are already beginning to deal with our own personal cutbacks. As the Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s proposed budget has highlighted, there will be reductions across the board for public programs, including a 15 percent budget cut in funding to institutions of higher learning. With such a reduction, it is inevitable that the costs of education will be passed on to students in the forms of higher tuition and student fees.
While some higher costs are going to come out of necessity to balance the budget, there are a lot of ways the university can cut costs for students now.
1. Encourage teachers to allow older editions of books
It is a hollow money sucking scheme when students are forced to buy “new” editions of books that have hardly changed since they were last issued. Subjects such as economics, mathematics, writing and history are relatively stable fields over time and giving students the option to buy older editions of books can save hundreds of dollars.
2. No more CPS clickers
CPS clickers cost additional money for each course you sign up for, and if you don’t have a clicker you have to spend at least $25 to get one. What’s more is that these clickers are usually used for aggregate quizzes or questions in overly large classes, where the quizzes don’t usually count for much. Teachers could easily switch out the clicker model for an end-of-class quiz on paper, which is far more economical.
3. Stop buying into online programs
Every year, more and more schools adopt online learning programs such as Aplia that attempt to take the place of teachers in the student/teacher model. While it may take some stress off the professor in large classes, they are often expensive and are poor substitutes for the traditional, “Come by my office hours and I’ll help you out.” If professors can’t find a way to teach 300 students without an electronic aid, they need a teaching assistant or VCU needs to stop laboring them with jumbosize classes.
Students should have a choice when it comes to their educational materials, especially when there isn’t as much money to go around. If the university refuses to put these practices into place, students should organize and boycott overpriced textbooks, unnecessary clicker courses and foolish online crap. After all, who’s paying the bills around here?
