The Mississippi legislature has sent Ole Miss a warning.
Just last week, the Office of Financial Aid sent out an email stating that “The legislature has eliminated the ‘stacking’ of undergraduate grants. If a student is eligible for more than one grant program, students will receive aid through the program that will award the larger amount… The following grants are included in this new rule: Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant (MTAG), Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant (MESG), Higher Education Legislative Plan for Needy Students (HELP), Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers & Firemen Scholarship (LAW), Nissan Scholarship.”
This might mark the beginning of the end of tuition affordability at the University of Mississippi.
It first begins with amendments such as the one students received an email about, then the legislature decides to cut grant programs altogether, and then it withdraws funding from the university as a whole.
There have been other states, such as Arizona, where the legislature has taken these very steps to slowly dial back from supporting public universities for a variety of political reasons.
Just within the past few years, as in-state tuition has increased from $6,300 in 2010 to $10,640 in 2016 at Arizona State University, student coalitions have been established, such as “Students for Affordable Tuition,” as a reaction to the state legislature removing significant amounts of funding to public institutions.
Given this, I believe we are currently on the same trajectory as Arizona State University.
However, we, as a student body, have a chance to be proactive and preserve our tuition affordability so that students, in-state, out-of-state and international, of all socioeconomic backgrounds have the opportunity to attend the University of Mississippi.
To me, the University of Mississippi has made decisions within the past few years that were rushed, unwarranted and fueled by emotion rather than reason.
There are things in this state that are worth looking into. However, we made decisions that some believed would solve the problem but instead led to unintended political consequences.
As a student body, we need to stop stepping on the heels of Jackson and instead reach out to our state representatives and senators, sit down with them and voice our concerns.
Acting in defiance to those who subsidize this university without discussion will do nothing but tarnish our relationship with the state legislature, alumni of this university and future students.
The legislature is sending us a warning, and if we act wisely, we will end the culture of acting emotionally and instead harvest an environment where we work with our legislature to maintain affordable tuition at the University of Mississippi.
Nestor Delgado is a sophomore public policy leadership major from Pascagoula.
