http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Tucker/Where%20We%20Live%2012-20-2011%20UConn.mp3
http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Tucker/Morning%20Edition%2012-20-2011.mp3
The University of Connecticut announced yesterday that it’s raising tuition starting in 2013. Yearly increases thru 2016 will be 6 percent, 6.3 percent, 6.5 percent and 6.8 percent...nearly doubling the cost of attending UConn in less than 12 years. Tuition and fees for an in-state student is currently $10,670. Under this plan, it could grow to $13,130 by 2016.
But UConn president Susan Herbst is touting what the university will get...almost 290 badly-needed new faculty members.
Herbst says this will help keep UConn competitive as a top research university...she joined us on Where We Live earlier this morning.
Also, former Democratic state lawmaker and columnist Jonathan Pelto joined Ray Hardman on WNPR's Morning Edition to discuss his criticism of the tuition hike.
The CT Mirror's Caitlin Emma reported on the tuition increase yesterday:
Adam Scianna said that as an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut nine years ago, it was common to see multiple sections for one class, often with 20 to 30 students per section. Now, he works as a teaching assistant for one of the same classes he took as an undergrad -- but he teaches one section with almost 200 students.
"This discussion should not be about the sticker price of a UConn education," UConn President Susan Herbst said Monday. "We need more faculty to educate our students better, give them what they need, bring down class size, and bring up faculty-student ratio, but faculty are also the research brain power of this university.
"When you do not have strong faculty numbers, you invent less and you create less," she said.
Read more of her report here.
