You do not need a university degree to learn, but it sure helps you earn money.
At 6:58 a.m. on Thursday, there were tons of cars on the road. Inside of each vehicle was someone gliding along to his or her profitable job that makes waking up early and sitting in traffic day-after-day, week-after-week, seem like a no-brainer. There is something else in each of those vehicles, and if you back up, you can see it — a college degree.
The University of Houston is one of the few public universities locally available to the city’s more than 2.1 million people. If we want people who want to work to be able to work, we need to make university degrees financially-accessible. Believe it or not, the cost of a degree is not universal and is not set by some higher powers. Sometimes, the control actually lies in our own hands.
Members of the Student Fees Advisory Committee propose to increase the per-semester student service fee by $50.
Given that entering students have at least eight semesters in front of them and the federal student loan rate in 2012-13 will be 6.8 percent, and that many loans run for 10 years, the fee increase would mean that someone without money is $550 further away from getting a university degree.
You can vote today and tomorrow almost anywhere on campus.
—Lara Appleby
Biology graduate student
Agreed… Not to mention the fee is only an additional $45/ semester. I would gladly pay an extra $400 in my undergraduate career to positively reshape the face of UH. By moving up a step on the ladder, my degree becomes significantly more valuable than the extra $400 I was charged in student fees. Also, $45 a semester is almost negligible compared to the rest of the campus fees; I pay much more for parking alone.
A vote in favor of this referendum is a vote for the future of UH!
As an idiotic same as always college that tries to clime up the rankings by charging us more and complain about the lack of support, that if they do they would still jack up tuition every year regardless just like the UC system? Yeah, I am going to vote no
So every single car in traffic at that hour has a college degree? "Each one". Hmm who knew I had a college degree?
First of all, college or its degree doesn't make you more valuable. Those are just learning environment and a piece of paper. Employers hire based on skills of each individual. I don't see how building a new stadium will improve anyone’s career opportunity. It’s true that you look better to graduate from a school with a winning sport team, but that doesn’t mean anything if you are not in the sport team. ? True, a Harvard degree is more valuable than UH’s. But Harvard is fundamentally superior to UH in many aspects.
Not everyone care about sport. Why should the burden be on those who do not have interest? It’s true that athletics can bring positive image to the university. But what about Bauer, the optometry school and Hilton that constantly bring fame to the community? Students outside of Bauer don’t pay Bauer to build new buildings. Its students pay for the new facilities. The athletics can build whatever they want as long as they pay for it themselves.
Realistically though, I am sure the fee increase will pass. Now that's a good incentive for people to graduate early if they voted no.
Jack, I posted the following a couple days ago on a related article, but I think it addresses the first half of your post:
Unless you attend a school that has Ivy League academic recognition, the quality of a school's athletic programs greatly impacts how many in the public view your degree. For example, if you were to apply for a job in Chicago (neutral city), is it more likely that the hiring manager will have heard of LSU or Stony Brook University? Because of their football program, it is more likely that the hiring manager will have heard of LSU – despite the fact that Stony Brook is a member of the Association of American Universities (the real tier 1) while LSU is not.
The recognition a school gets for its athletics affects the value of your degree. Its unfortunate, but true. And that reality is why the fee should be approved.
Fees, fess, and more fees! I find it unfair that I am forced to pay more for tuition just so we can build a better football and basketball stadium. If we were in the SEC or Big 12 confrence and comeptiting for the Rose Bowl or championship every year, I might understand.
But, we're not!
Students already subsizdize the athletics program, one that hasn't done much in the past few years besides football (which has had more bumps on the road than successes). To those who say that improving athletics, improves our Tier One status (which we only have for research), you must be kidding yourself.
how about we get president khator to donate all of her money to charity. i think that would get a lot of positive press for UH and make our degrees more valuable. actually i'm as sure of that as these people who say good football teams make your degree more valuable.
who is with me?!?
DONATE A SMALL PIECE OF YOUR FORTUNE TO CHARITY, KHATOR. THIS WILL HELP OUR SCHOOL SO MUCH. BOSSES LOVE ALUMNI FROM ALTRUISTIC SCHOOLS