Tower Editorial: Only the Cool Kids Remember Tuition Hikes

 Another year, another tuition hike, is anyone surprised? Well, aside from the freshmen who didn’t realize exactly how much debt they were getting themselves into, most of us saw it coming.

      There’s no doubt that we as a student body have gotten new benefits along with the price increase. We have a pub in Murphy’s, a recently remodeled Marist Hall, a new parking garage–oh, wait.

      Now, we won’t pretend to be qualified enough to give the university a lecture on finances. We’re college students, we spend forty dollars on brunch and then refuse to shell out six dollars for a new notebook.

      Tuition hikes happen every year, not just at CUA but at all colleges and universities across the country. There’s little we can do to stop these raises in tuition, so maybe it’s time we start trying to get our money’s worth. Instead of complaining about the fact our tuition is going up, let’s start trying to take advantage of every opportunity this tuition hike provides us.

      Here are some ideas to get you started: move into the best booth in Murphy’s and don’t leave, no matter how many dirty looks you get. Visit Career Services and get your resume and cover letters fixed up, they are scary, but it’s good for you in the end. Join more clubs, attend more events. You’ve already paid for that crepe night French club hosted and you already paid for that pizza party your dorm is throwing.

      Don’t want to buy a book you’ll only be using for three weeks in a semester? Don’t. The library is open every day, not just finals week–I know, what a shock.

      Don’t have plans for spring break? You already paid for most of the Habitat for Humanity trips. Get yourself on one of the waitlists and you might get a phone call at 10 pm the night before and end up across the country painting houses for a good cause.

      Next time you swipe into the Pryz, take two pieces of fruit to go and some peanut butter cups. Even if you’re not going to eat them you can hand them off to your upperclassmen friends. Then, be sure to visit the Kane, or don’t, and take advantage of that sweet shuttle system, jury’s still out on whether anyone’s actually used it before.

      Did you know most other schools don’t have free printing or free laundry? Yes, we may be destroying the environment (65 degrees in February, anyone?) but might as well wash your sheets every week and impress that special someone you won’t be bringing back to your dorm on Valentine’s day. Shout-out to our HSAs for that one. As for printing, if you print out the readings your professor posted on Blackboard he or she might be convinced that you actually glanced at it.

      As for the classes, maybe audit one next semester. We’re in D.C., throw in an extra politics class just to understand what your wacky aunt posts on Facebook every week.

      Until there’s an overhaul of the education system that effects both private and public colleges, tuition is going to keep getting higher and we’re deluding ourselves if we think it won’t. The average college debt for members of the Class of 2015 was $30,100 according to Time Magazine. We should be thinking of how we can better our resumes in the process of this debt accumulation so that we can hopefully get better jobs to start chipping away at that debt just in time to take out loans for graduate school.