Tennessee lawmakers fired a broadside at the state’s universities Wednesday.
Their complaint: skyrocketing tuition. But they say they can rein it in.
Their proposal is to freeze tuition when students enter a four-year state university. Whatever students are asked to pay as freshmen, that will be the price until graduation. All students have to do is stay enrolled and finish on time.
The idea, Senate Bill 2306, comes from state Sen. Dolores Gresham, the influential chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee. The Somerville Republican says that over the past two decades, tuition at the University of Tennessee has risen from $2,200 to more than $12,000. That’s faster than inflation, wage growth, and even the stock market.
“This sure makes me wish that I had invested my retirement accounts in UT tuition,” Gresham quips.
Universities respond that it’s not really their fault. (continue reading)