News conference addresses rising cost of college
Rising college tuition in North Dakota is becoming an increasing concern among college students.
Don Morrison, director of NDPeople.Org, and Mitch Marr, a recent graduate of NDSU, held a news conference about issues, such as rising tuition, in the Memorial Union Friday.
Morrison talked about issues and situations that are faced by college students today.
He emphasized putting priorities straight, as a state, and leadership. Morrison said North Dakota college tuition is so high because North Dakota is underfunded by the higher education system in the state.
Morrison said that North Dakota has a cycle where the state legislatures underfund state education and then college tuition rises by double digits year after year.
“ College students graduating from North Dakota colleges are graduating with some of the lowest wages in the country, but they still have to pay their college loans back to the Bank of North Dakota,” Morrison said.
Profits from those student loans go back into the student general funds. Then the legislature underfunds education, Morrison said.
“ It’s a vicious cycle,” Morrison said.
Morrison set up his booth in the Memorial Union to work with NDSU students to help break that cycle.
Morrison’s campaign with NDPeople.Org is focused on bringing attention to the fact that certain leaders in the legislation and the administration have made this cycle happen, and it’s up to the voters to break that cycle.
“ The federal congress has decided to cut $12 billion from student loans. They also raised interest from 4.7 percent to 6.7 percent,” Morrison said.
“The average amount of time it takes to graduate is six years in North Dakota and less than 50 percent of students don’t finish with bachelor’s degrees,” Marr said.
Having the minimum wage where it’s at makes it hard to make ends meet, Marr said. He doesn’t blame anyone but suggests that everybody is going to have to contribute to solving the problem.
“ We have one of the lowest wages in the country. State and federal funding on our side would be ultimate,” Marr said.