Dive Brief:
- Arizona’s Save Our Students organization is collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would cap tuition and require minimum higher education investment from the state or trigger a 2% corporate tax increase.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that the proposal would tie in-state tuition increases to the cost of living index and lock in tuition for incoming students for four years.
- The proposal would apply to tuition and funding for Arizona’s three major public universities, all of which have declined to comment on the proposal — but a spokeswoman for the State Board of Regents said it could be dangerous for institutions in removing flexibility for financial decision-making at the university level.
Dive Insight:
Inside Higher Ed reports that Arizona’s higher education cuts were larger than those in any other state this year. The legislature pulled $99 million from the state’s universities. In the years of disinvestment since 2009, tuition has increased 83%, according to Matthew Capalby, president of Save Our Students and a former vice chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party. While analysts do not expect the group to be successful in getting the ballot initiative passed even if it makes it to voters, the initiative is one to watch as the momentum it creates could spread to other states facing similar financial situations.