Exiting high school and stepping into the college realm, many students chose Central Connecticut for two main reasons: It is affordable and you get a good education close to home.
Good education at a good price. Short and simple.
But is it still that way?
Not as of March 29th.
According to an article from CT Mirror, the Board of Regents (BOR) for Higher Education approved 3.5 to five percent tuition increases for the 17 schools in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system. Only one dissenting vote was cast.
This cut to universities may take from the quality of sports, classroom technology, campus building structures, dining halls and much more. The Hartford Courant reported that, at the system’s four regional state universities, Ojakian said, academic support services have been “drastically cut or reduced,” library hours have been cut and dozens of staff positions have been eliminated. Tutoring, academic advisement and psychological counseling have been drastically cut, he said.
While it has become normal, even if unpleasant, to see an annual tuition increase, this year is different because it comes on top of a a roughly 20 percent increase over the past three years.
To make matters worse, the BOR is facing budget cuts from the state, which can already be seen in the form of a hiring freeze.
So what does this mean for students?
The Hartford Courant reported in February that UConn President Susan Herbst told members of the legislature’s appropriations committee that the $19.5 million cut for the university would mean that students have “larger classes and fewer of them. It would mean sections filling up so students get locked out of courses they need. It means students possibly not graduating on time, increasing the cost of their education and their debt.”
The case is similar for CCSU.
The goal of a government is to provide for its citizens. But in the wake of all budget cuts, the government, or the State of Connecticut in this case, arguably is not providing for its students of higher education, and not investing in the future of Connecticut.
President of the BOR and the CSCU system Mark Ojakian, told legislators that the governor’s proposed $26 million cut in his budget, or about seven percent, “May have profound long-term implications.”
Even though it is fiscally responsible, cutting funding for higher education in Connecticut  is not necessarily the right choice to benefit the suture of your community. Sometimes investing in the future of your state takes precedence, in order to promote future economical growth.