Soak The Rich, Except The Dumb Kids From Illinois

The first thing I noticed about this Daily Iowan editorial concerning proposed tuition increases for 2007 was the goofy alarmist headline: Higher out-of-state tuition increases would negatively affect university

From the editorial:

The state Board of Regents will meet Wednesday and Thursday in Ames to discuss possible tuition increases at the three state universities: the UI, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa. The proposed increases at the UI are of particular importance.

Percentage increases for Iowa residents and nonresidents are higher than those of the other two regent universities, and the UI is the only one with an increase for nonresident tuition that is greater than the increase in instate tuition. Raising out-of-state tuition in such a manner will make increasing or even maintaining a diverse student population at Iowa more difficult.

The proposed tuition increases are 6.1 percent for residents at Iowa and 7.2 percent for nonresidents, with yearly tuition costs of $6,273 and $19,445 respectively. In contrast are Iowa State's increases of 5.1 and 3.5 percent and UNI's at 4.7 and 3.3 percent. Both schools also have significantly lower tuition for nonresidents. Nonresident rates are understandably lower at ISU and UNI, because both have a higher instate student composition. For example, UNI is made up of 91 percent Iowa residents, and there just isn't enough of a demand to allow for much higher out-of-state tuition.

The rationale behind the proposed increase on the UI's out-of-state tuition is the makeup of the students; approximately 63 percent of UI students are from Iowa. Given the high percentage of out-of-state students at Iowa, officials reason that there is a greater tolerance for increases in out-of-state tuition without negatively affecting enrollment

So the difference is 1.1%? How much does that work out to on a $19,445 tuition? About $200, right?

The Daily Idiot's final paragraph:

The financial problems of the state shouldn't be shifted onto prospective UI students. It will be a detriment to expanding diversity in students at Iowa, and it is unfair to unload funding difficulties because of state stinginess.

Everybody knows that most of these Illinois students were too dumb to get into Northwestern or Illinois, but rich enough to get into the University of Iowa. If they're stupid enough to pay nearly $20 grand for a neighboring state's public university, another $200 isn't going to kill them.