So this year, in addition to the usual tuition increases, GMU has added Educational Resource Fees to all student bills. But what makes an Educational Resource Fee different from regular tuition? Isn't tuition supposed to be an "Educational Resource Fee". Education Resource Fees have been implemented to help Mason cover the budget shortfall in this tough economy.
These fees should really be called "Economic Downturn Fees". And these fees make sense. When the economy is down, business suffers, as do people with jobs. College students don't have jobs, so they are insulated from the economic downturn and best able to bear the hardship. Further, colleges don't adequately prepare students to get jobs meaning it could take many years after graduation before students are exposed to the harsh realities of working in a weak economy. Students should be thankful their school shelters them from the economy and be happy to keep George Mason University afloat in its time of need.
I hope I'm not the only one who sees something wrong with this picture. Maybe an alternative budget solution in the lien years would be to stop building like there's an impending shortage of bricks. But then again, maybe I'm just a cynic.
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7 comments:
That's so Mason. GMU needs to re-evaluate its goals; in its desire to become more like traditional state universities, it has lost many of the unique traits that make it attractive (see the paring down of the University Scholars Program).
Housing prices up 15% - I feel like it's 2005 all over again!!
At least you can actually get housing on-campus, Pete...if only the rest of us could be so lucky (somehow, I think losing out on my tuition for a couple semesters isn't exactly going to be the incentive to convince them to find me someplace to live).
Universities are like cell phone companies, cable companies, etc. etc. blah blah blah, in that they get you locked into a service agreement and then have very little incentive to improve your condition. The cost of switching cell phone companies is explicitly stated in your contract - a three digit "early termination fee" - and the difficulty of transferring credits creates a similar issue for university students. Mason knows that regardless of whether or not it provides you on-campus housing, there is an extremely high probability you'll figure it out and continue to attend school here. From what I understand, they have closed off the waiting list for everyone except freshmen now... makes sense. Get as many of them locked in as possible and the cycle will continue. I don't know how to change the incentives in this system, so unfortunately, you are one of many victims.
You are absolutely right. GMU, I just realized, did something else for this fall: They canceled the option to pay with Visa in order to "save 1.5 million". Smart guys. At least they should have sent an email with this info! They must think everybody holds a bunch of master or ame express! A shame.
Mason just keeps getting more and more expensive. I started in 2006, and my tuition has increased steadily even year. Now I have this random fee, on top of the jacked up parking fees for commuting. I can't wait to finish this spring.
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY mimics Northern Virginia as a whole. The fact that there is too much money for the rich and not the poor. The traffic is ridiculous. The resource fee is b.s. because the counselors don't even know the "ins and outs" of the general policy around campus. Sodexo workers are being dogged like many of the immigrants in the NOVA area. And further more, I'm hungry and it takes 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee and a decent meal. I can't wait to get out of this power tripping school that has lost site of education. I asked for lights in a room to be fixed to study since the summer and they just fixed it yesterday!!!!!!! And again the construction is a mess, distraction, and hazardous as there was a f!@$%!ng gas leak today and students had to evacuate. GMU AND NOVA SO LONG ONCE I GRADUATE, NO MORE CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC!!!! THIS IS THE GEORGE MASON SHUFFLE as it is called.
What an impressive post it seems to be when we talk about educational resources fees.
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