Brandon Carter
Recession, it’s a dirty word that no one likes to hear. No one wants to hear the taboo word because it entails difficult times and hardship for almost everyone. You would think some sectors of the economy would be safe from these troubling times, but sadly it isn’t so.
The effects of the recent recession can be seen everywhere, even in the higher education system. The idea that the higher education sector was once an almost recession proof area is being shown to be completely false. According to an article by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the state of California already has plans “to slash faculty and staff salaries, sharply cut enrollment, and raise tuition in the expectation of the largest cut in state support in several decades.” This plan will amount to pay cuts of 4% to 10% pay cuts for state funded university employees and an overall cut of 3 billion to the state university budget.
You may be wondering, “How will this affect students?” Well consider this; would you attempt to complete a task as efficiently if you were getting paid less to do the same thing? Because of the cuts, the plan also forces some universities to cut the number of classes offered and students accepted. For example, the University of California is planning to raise tuition by as much as 20% and cut back on the number of students enrolled by up 40,000. Many students at universities in California are protesting the cuts and have even videotaped their complaints during the "vent at the tent" week. Surely there are some things that could be cut before resorting to cutting areas that affect the quality of education students receive. Higher education is a vital part of America’s current and future generations. Can we really afford to skimp on bettering our future? Sadly some see it that way and are proving the notion of higher education being recession proof to be utterly false.
California budget cut protest
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