An article appeared today regarding a tuition increase for the UM system in which Chancellor Brady Deaton “said some students bypass MU because tuition isn’t high enough. He says for many, cost equals quality.” In times of austerity such as these, this is an irresponsible, reprehensible, elitist statement that should anger all the students in the UM system who struggle with debt to pay for their UM education. What kind of student would pass up a bargain for a supposedly excellent education? The faculty and learning opportunities in the UM system are just as great as those of any other school in the country.

The student, if any, who would pass up such a bargain merely because it did not cost enough, is not only elitist, but insulting to the intelligence and common sense of hard working students who earn their education. Such students do not merit consideration by our Chancellor. The only possible explanation for our Chancellor making such a statement, is greed. Greed for attracting the wrong kind of student at the expense of the vast majority of wholesome, creative students who, with many parents, struggle to provide resources for a quality education. The schools in the UM system are known for their quality and do not depend on inflated soap bubbles of aristocratic tradition and name brand frivolity. Raise the tuition if need be to provide better education and resources for students and faculty, but do not deign to raise the burden of UM students with shallow arguments about senseless aristocratic affluent students passing our school because it doesn’t cost enough. Does anyone else see the similarity with other bubbles? Housing, anyone?