KLKN-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Lincoln, NE; KLKNTV.comGroup Suggests Tuition Hike to Solve Budget Problems
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In a few weeks, state senators will meet in a special session to make cuts to offset Nebraska's budget shortfall.
In a few weeks, state senators will meet in a special session to make cuts to offset Nebraska's budget shortfall.
In 2007, the group hired Dr. Ernie Goss at Creighton University to do a study on to find where the state could make cuts.
The study found that if Nebraska spent its money more like it's neighboring states, it would save nearly $2 billion.
One of the suggestions was to raise tuition at UNL to meet other state's averages. That would amount to $104 million each year.
John McCollister is with the Platte Institute. He says, "we could very well raise tuition and help reduce some of that extra spending that we have in Nebraska."
But passing the costs onto students isn't something that's popular at the university.
UNL senior Allison Peters says, "I don't think that it's fair to ask young people who don't have any money to begin with to pay more tuition just to get the state out of debt.
It's something freshman Kerry Swanson doesn't want to see happen. "I really don't have a lot of scholarship money the way it is and I don't really want to be in any more debt than I already am."
The study also suggested making changes to our K-12 education system. They say our teacher to student ratio is too high. In Nebraska, we spend 7.5% of our budget on administration while other states spend about 5.5%.
The study also covered ways the state could make cuts to the public welfare system as well as to money spent on our roads and highways.
If you would like to know more about the Platte Institute and view the complete study, visit www.platteinstitute.org
