Tempers Arise in Rutgers University Due to Tuition Increases

                     

                       

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ Rutgers University tuition is rising and it seems like so are the tempers of many of its students.

Many RU students learned earlier this Fall semester that the Board of Governors approved the 1.7 percent tuition increase.

 Rutgers University students interviewed expressed their frustration in the tuition hike for the 2016-2017 school year primarily because it increasingly becomes more difficult to find a means to pay for it every year.

“I don’t look forward to my term bill late August,” Omar Morsy, a third year Computer Science major in Rutgers University said. “Last year, I paid two thousand dollars out of pocket and this year I paid five thousand dollars out of pocket. I don’t benefit from it at all.”

Morsy and other students agree, while they understand tuition increase may be necessary to revitalize the campus, the consecutive tuition increases on top of other student fees places a financial block in their lives.

“I owe it to myself,” Bobby Cruz a third year Economics major confessed. “I worked two jobs this past summer in order to prepare for college. I get no financial aid. The system does not take into consideration our individual financial struggles.”

According to one RU student who will graduate next Spring, the cost of tuition has increased by 2.4 percent every year and though this year it increased by 1.7 percent, other student fees increased.

“I can’t wait to leave,” Engy Mikhail a last year Pharmacy student said. “Pharmacy school has increased their tuition every year and it’s an additional one thousand dollars to the School of Arts & Sciences. I don’t know how many times I wanted to just transfer and become a Biology major instead.”

Ruben Cruz, senior in Biology, showed concern on how the university was dealing with existing money.

“I’m worried with how and where money is spent in this school,” Cruz said. “There are student fees that are unnecessary in my eyes which the school should cut and use in replacement to tuition increase. There is also a worry if RU is allocating too many funds into a failing athletic department or any other department.”

Though there was a clear concern on tuition increase, some students felt it was necessary.

Noel Taide, a Computer Science Major, and Abishek Patel, an Engineer student, agreed that tuition increases were vital in compensating for the student body growth in Rutgers University.

“Rutgers University is a big school; the school needs to find ways to cover services to support the incoming wave of students,” Taide said. “So I don’t find the hike to be a surprise. I get it.”

Patel, on the other hand, saw it as an investment into his education and student life in Rutgers University.

“I see Rutgers stepping up their game in providing new amenities to its students.” Abishek remarked. “So, if I have to pay more money I’m going to do it whether I like it or not. It’s my education.”