Upon hearing that WTAMU will probably have a tuition increase for the fall of 2012, I was less than pleased. Paying over $2,000 as it is, increasing the tuition is and would be even more difficult for my parents and even for myself. Although loans are still an option, most students don’t want to take out college loans for the fear of not having a job six months after graduation and they have to pay back the loans.

I am not a fan of this and there’s no doubt that I’ll be at the public hearing, especially if President Patrick O’Brien is going to be there. I feel like if tuition is going to go up, so should be ability for students to receive financial aid.

It would be unfair for parents and students who have other important payments to worry about and if it comes to it, students will have to drop out of college to find a job and help their parents or spouses.Not only does it hurt the future of a student but it will also hurt the school’s percentage rate of returning students every semester. Although many may say they will return to college as soon as it all gets better, sometimes that won’t be the case. It would be a lose-lose situation for everyone. The U.S. may be the biggest loser because we aren’t producing the amount of engineers, business people, mathematicians, physicists and other major jobs America used to produce.

Before this goes off into another random tangent, I think it’d be best for this to close. There will be three hearings about the proposed fee increase. The dates and hours are:

• Monday, Feb. 27, 5:00-5:45 p.m., Amarillo Center Room 1012.
• Tuesday, Feb. 28, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., JBK Commons.
• Tuesday, Feb. 28, 4:30-5:30 p.m., JBK Commons.