(EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on Jan. 15)

Tuition cap not the solution

A legislative move to cap rises in college tuition fees has met strong protest
from universities.


A subcommittee of the Education and Science Committee of the
National Assembly recently agreed to impose university-wide caps on tuition fees.
The bipartisan agreement to contain hikes in tuition fees, however, stinks of an
under-the-table deal.
The opposition Democratic Party has demanded the cap on tuition as a condition to
go ahead with the new student loan pilot program. The ruling Grand National
Party, which until now had opposed curbing operations at liberal arts colleges,
agreed eagerly in order to secure the launch of the income-contingent repayment
program before the new school year starts.
Enforcing a nationwide cap on university tuition goes against market principles
and guarantees of freedom in university management. The current higher education
law allows universities to set tuition freely to help sustain themselves and to
manage their funds based on their development plans and goals. Funding is
essential to raise the competitiveness of undergraduate education. Without stable
finances, universities cannot attain excellence in faculty and facilities, and
they cannot provide quality education and research. For private college
foundations, which run 83 percent of local colleges, nearly 80 percent of their
funding is dependent on student tuition. If the legislation goes through to
restrict their funding, the quality of university education will be at stake.
It is an undeniable fact that paying for a college education is burdensome for
many middle-class families. Campuses conduct ritual rallies against steep rises
in tuition fees with every new school term. Still, a legal cap on tuition fees
cannot be a sensible solution. As in every other advanced society, it would be
best to expand scholarships to students experiencing difficulties while
maintaining the usual inflation-contingent tuition rates for other students.
The government can also consider offering greater subsidies to colleges to ease
rises in tuition. The government subsidy for higher education makes up a mere 0.6
percent of the country???s gross domestic product, falling shy of the average 1
percent of the member countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development. Colleges are forced to resort to tuition hikes to fund maintenance
under the current financial structure. Universities also should ask themselves if
they cannot do more. They should be open with their fund management and actively
spend reserves to increase scholarships and develop their campus infrastructure.
They must clarify estimations of tuition fees and spending. But again, capping
tuition fees may turn out to be a blind alley.
(END)

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