For $25 per semester, students could give their peers a betterfuture.
This is the belief of many campus administrators who are backing afee on this week’s referendum that would provide scholarships to theuniversity’s lowest-income students.
Known as “Students Assisting Students,” this fee would supplyabout 1,500 students with $1,000 per year toward their educationalexpenses.
Starting Wednesday, students will vote on six different fees thatcould add $92 to their tuition. This fee is the largest on thereferendum and has stirred the most controversy.
Chris Collins, assistant director for financial aid, saiduniversity, federal and state grants are insufficient in keeping upwith student need. Many students work full-time jobs while going toschool and must increasingly depend on student loans. Others drop outbecause they can’t make ends meet.
Upon graduation, low-income students face an average of $14,000 inloan debt, Collins said.
“We’d like to be able to reduce that,” he said. “These studentsjust graduated from college — we don’t want them burdened with thatamount of loan debt.”
Acquiring support from students is proving to be difficult. Facedwith six different fees and a slowing economy, dozens are askingthemselves, “Why should we have to pay for others to go to school?”
This was the sentiment expressed at an Associated Students Councilmeeting last month, where student representatives voted not to backthe $25 fee.
“This fee is going to create grants for students who are alreadyreceiving money,” councilmember Josh Miller said. “It hurts studentswho are above the line, where their parents make just enough so theycan’t get any financial aid.
“The people this is helping have already been helped.”
Money generated from the fee would be directed at the studentswhose families do not have any money to give to their education,Collins said.
“This is a group that has nothing they can contribute,” he said.”Their debt is increasing. They have no safety net. Their familycan’t help out and they are working to help support their family.”
In the voter pamphlet, Fall 2002 transfer student James Kenihancalls the fee an “educational welfare program” and says thatdemanding the student body pay for another student’s education isunfair.
“If helping people afford a college education is the goal of thisreferendum, then it should be a referendum to lower the amount offees paid by the student body,” he said.
Instead of the fee, Kenihan suggests implementing a fee-waiverprogram that would allow low-income students to avoid some fees. Thebookstore could provide free textbooks to the neediest students, oralumni could make donations.
Collins said some of these ideas are not feasible. With any feewaiver program, money has to be accounted for and money from thestate is not enough.
Last semester, the Campus Fee Advisory Committee cut down a $30fee for low-income scholarships to $10 because it felt it was a morereasonable amount to ask students.
Weber decided to increase the fee to $25, saying the universityshould put forth the fee to students and “see what they choose to dowith it.”
Gus Chavez, Educational Opportunity Program director, feels thefee affects a diverse cross section of students. Giving them anopportunity to go to college will increase the diversity of thecampus, he said.
“SDSU students have a unique opportunity to be proactive andreally think about a long-term investment in their university’sfuture,” Chavez said.
