Higher Education and the Low-Tuition Policy

T HE concept of a classless structure for education has always been a part of the great American dream. In our public colleges and universities this concept appears in the form of the low-tuition principle, which is currently under attack from many quarters. With the increasingly rapid rate of expansion of public higher education, the perennial question Where will the money come from? is heard in the land like the cry of the cuckoo each spring. There are two chief sources of additional revenue for public higher education: legislative appropriations and student fees. But legislatures are being subjected to increased pressure for additional appropriations from all state agencies. Coupled with this pressure is a growing demand from the public for tax relief. Under these circumstances our lawmakers are reluctant to the point of recalcitrance to appropriate additional funds for education. The alternative-to which more and more attention is being given these days-is to increase student fees so that they will absorb a larger share of the costs of higher education. To do this would jeopardize the low-tuition principle. The low-tuition principle has been one of the unique features of American public higher education. Although little more than a hundred years old, it has revolutionized higher education. In I900, only 20 per cent of the students attending colleges and universities were in public institutions; in I960, the number had risen to nearly 6o per cent. Why the increase? Why have public universities flourished although by and large they have not had the prestige of many private institutions? According to reliable studies, the most significant factor has been the cost of tuition. The policy of charging low tuition rates has not only brought about a tremendous increase in the proportion of youth who have gone to college; it has correspondingly increased the nation's supply of scholars and specialists. It has been a signal success, and it is envied and copied in a large part of the world. Even now, however, only half of the students of college age who are capable of college work are attending college. Are we going to provide educational opportunities for the remaining half? If so, the low-tuition device, which has proved successful in promoting higher education on a wide scale, must be continued. It can be outmoded only by the public's