Students Protest Tuition Increase, Promise Continued Action

Students at the University of Southern California organized another Stop Tuition Hike Rally in front of Tommy Trojan at noon Monday. About fifteen students came out to make noise about the almost $2,000 tuition increase announced a few weeks ago.

Some of today’s student protestors participated in previous rallies, while others came to protest for the first time.

“How do you expect us to go to work, to go to school and to come out here and protest every day?” sophomore Nys Trejo said. “What student has time for that?”

The rally was organized by students, some of whom are in Undergraduate Student Government. USG fought against a tuition increase last semester. In November, USG unanimously passed a resolution demanding a tuition freeze and greater financial transparency from the university. Organizers say the overwhelming student voice is being ignored.

“I’m mad because USC cannot continue to make unilateral decisions without listening to student voices,” junior Nadja Barlera said. “We are students; this is our university.”

Students say their demands boil down to three main points: affordability, transparency and accountability. The students created an online petition to demand a clear tuition breakdown that can be understood by both students and parents. They also want students to be involved in decision-making processes regarding tuition changes. Students want to achieve this through the creation and appointment of a student trustee.

“USC needs to be transparent about where our money is going,” Barlera said. “If an accounting grad student can’t read the financial report that’s unacceptable.”

One of the students’ main concerns is that tuition is rising at a much higher rate than inflation. According to the Consumer Price Index, the cumulative inflation rate from 2012 to 2015 was 3.9 percent, while the USC undergraduate tuition rose 11.6 percent during that same period.

USC administrators argue that according to five-year averages tuition increases at USC are at their lowest in 50 years. According to the university, the average cost to attend the university per student is reduced by nearly 40 percent.

Students protestors say those comparisons are irrelevant to the college affordability reality they face.

“I have friends who are going in debt, and they have to work so much they can’t focus on school so their grades suffer and they can’t qualify for scholarships anymore,” junior Sophia Li said. “This university wants to talk about diversity and how it cares about low income students and marginalized students. But that’s not true when you aren’t letting those students afford this institution.”

Students also argue the university has higher overall cost of attendance compared to the top five U.S. News ranked universities in the nation. Students are not allowing the university to hide behind the “most competitive” argument. Some top private universities also cover tuition for families with incomes under a certain number.

Stanford, for example, covers tuition for students with families with an income and assets total less than $125,000. USC currently has no minimum income for free tuition.

“This university is trying to say its the next Stanford,” Li said. “Stanford makes its tuition free for any family that makes under $125,000. What’s USC doing with its billions of dollars in endowment?”

Students are promising to continue rallies until their concerns are addressed.

Reach staff reporter Morgan Buckley here. Reach staff reporter Tiaira Muhammad here.