As if students didn’t already have a hard time paying collegetuition and all the associated costs, the university is askingstudents to chip in an extra $25 — the highest fee on the upcomingreferendum.

It is called “Students Assisting Students,” and it is set up toprovide money to low-income students, supplementing funding currentlycoming from San Diego State and the federal and state government. Thegrant would provide approximately 1,562 of “San Diego State’slowest-income” undergraduate students with $1,000 per academic year.

In the voter pamphlet, Interim Director of Financial Aid ChrysDutton said the currently available financial aid is insufficient tocover the needs of SDSU students.

The new grant would help low-income undergraduate students who arein good academic standing with the university overcome “thesignificant financial barriers that can prevent them from completingtheir degrees.”

The problem is, this grant would not be regulated (an unfortunateweakness of the financial aid system). Students would simply be givena check and be trusted to put that money toward college expenses.

For this reason, The Daily Aztec does not support this fee.

The voter pamphlet says, “the creation of the ‘Students AssistingStudents’ grant program would allow SDSU students to help supporttheir fellow students and contribute to the university’s diversitygoals.”

Hmm, sound familiar?

Again, the university is passing the buck to students when it isits responsibility to ensure academic availability and quality.

This fee would generate approximately $1.5 million each year.However, only 1,562 students would benefit. This is about 4.5 percentof our campus’ total student population. What about the rest of them?

Instead of this fee, which will help only a few, and doesn’t evenguarantee that those helped will use the money for school, The DailyAztec has a better idea.

To pay for school, low-income students will take out loans. Then,either year by year, or at graduation, money from this fee could beused to help them pay back those loans. An education credit.

This provides the same assistance to low-income students that thecurrently proposed fee does, and it ensures that the money studentsgive up for this fee won’t be spent on skateboards and clothes.