The Arizona Students’ Association held rallies on each ASU campus Wednesday to educate students about the state’s most recent plans to cut university funding.
The rallies come just one week after the Senate passed a budget plan that would cut $235 million from the university system. Under this plan, ASU’s budget would be reduced by $107 million.
These cuts could pose some harsh alternatives for students like Michael Schinzel, a global studies junior who works 40 hours a week and takes 15 credits a semester.
Schinzel attended the rally on the Tempe campus.
“Each semester is costing me over $8,000 dollars out of my own pocket,” Schinzel said. “Any kind of expense … is putting me at a very, very big financial strain.”
If the increase goes through, Schinzel said he’d have to work more hours, drop classes or not purchase his books.
Schinzel didn’t hang around the rally for very long, but did complete a yellow postcard that expressed his opposition to the cuts. ASA plans to deliver these postcards to the state Legislature.
ASU released its tuition plan last Friday that proposes increasing attendance costs by more than $1,200 for most students. This tuition plan was developed in conjunction with Gov. Jan Brewer’s budget proposal that cut $170 million from the university system. The Senate’s plan would add an extra $65 million to Brewer’s proposed cut.
Rhian Stotts, an ASA director, said the Senate’s plan is what prompted ASA to organize the rally.
Finance junior Sundu Hwang, another full-time student who works 40 hours a week, said education is very important but that he might have to take fewer credits if there is a tuition increase.
English secondary education and English literature junior Theophano Lykos said she’s receiving a Pell grant and a scholarship but still has to take out a loan of about $1,000 a year to cover her expenses and tuition. She works 20 to 30 hours a week.
Lykos, a transfer student, said she admits that ASU is a lot cheaper than her previous college. However, necessities like gas that can cost $80 a week are already cutting into her expenses. If the tuition increase goes through, Lykos said, “I won’t be able to buy anything for myself.”
Students aren’t the only ones unhappy with the $235 million cut. Valerie Finn, an adjunct professor in the English department, said her rank was already cut this month, which affects her pay and the availability of classes that she gets to teach.
“A lot of the faculty … are deeply hesitant about the permanency of their jobs,” said Finn.
Reach the reporter at cbleone@asu.edu
