[Vision2020] Costs of attendance

[Rob Keenan]

Since there has been some debate (well, not much of a debate, just one guy
spouting off) about the cost of attending the University of Idaho, I did
some checking. Now, as a lowly Washington State University student, I've
known that my cost of education is among the highest in the nation, seeing
as how I'm now financing about 52 percent of the cost of my education by
myself. I was looking back through some archives of The Daily Evergreen, and
I came across an article from the 1970s that featured students protesting
via a "sit-in" when their tuition costs came out to 38 percent of the actual
charges. Recently, when Gary Locke effectively upped our tuition to 52
percent, the only reaction was from self-supporting students such as myself,
who suddenly realized we were going to be spending the rest of our natural
lives paying off student loans at something like an 87.4 percent interest
rate.

So, given the whinings of one very vocal member of this online community, I
must confess a certain surprise that the price this member complains about
so bitterly could not teach this certain individual to spell, acknowledge
proper punctuation or give a working relationship with our good friend,
"grammar." What is the actual cost of attending the UI? Let's take a look --

Undergraduate tuition, UI: $3,348 per two semesters (includes mandatory
fees)
Undergraduate tuition, WSU: $5,280 per two semesters (includes mandatory
fees)
Room and board, UI: $4,868
Room and board, WSU: $6,196
Books and supplies, UI (estimated): $1,248
Books and supplies, WSU (estimated): $912
Transportation, UI (estimated): $972
Transportation, WSU: $1,290
Miscellaneous expenses, UI (estimated): $2,214
Miscellaneous expenses, WSU (estimated): $2,070
Total, UI: $12,650
Total, WSU: $15,748

Two universities, eight miles away. Same economy, different states. I would
count your blessings as Idaho residents that you still have an affordable
education in a state that respects the meaning and intent of a land-grant
university. In the meantime, I'm going back on eBay to try and sell some
more of my things so I won't have to withdraw from the university five weeks
before graduation for not being able to make rent.

Putting things back in perspective,

ROB