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Students Fight Tuition Hikes

By VVAW

In early December, President Ford vetoed a GI Bill increase of 23%, but Congress overrode that veto. Going one step further, on Feb, 13th, the White House proposed an elimination of the GI Bill for future veterans. Though the GI Bill did go into effect, it is still grossly inadequate when considering the rising rate of inflation and costs of tuition.

Ford's proposal to eliminate the GI Bill is just one more example of the many cut-backs that vets are facing. At the same time, however, all students are finding it increasingly difficult to get an education--prices are rising all the times, there are cut-backs in the quality of education, and tuition costs are going up. For example, the state of Washington Council on Higher Education recently announced a 32% increase in tuition fees for community colleges and state universities. Ironically, this announcement of the tuition hikes came the day after the GI Bill increase went into effect (meaning that vets were already 9% behind one day after the GI Bill hike).

Students in Washington are not taking these hikes lying down, but are building a movement to fight back against them. VVAW/WSO chapters in Tacoma and Seattle are working with the Revolutionary Student Brigade to build a campaign to fight these tuition hikes. An example of the dollars and cents of these hikes means that at the Tacoma Community College, tuition cost have jumped from $83 to $110. But it is not just the money that matters; tuition increases are an attack on working people everywhere. It is the sons and daughters of working people that are the hardest hit by these increases and who are finding it harder and harder to stay in school for financial reasons. Because of this, VVAW/WSO in Washington sees that the major way to fight these increases is by building a fighting movement of students--including vets--to oppose this rip-off.

The campaign to fight the hikes is being waged under two major slogans: "Fight the Tuition Rip-Off' and "Hard Times are Fighting Times." This campaign is being taken to students at campuses in both Tacoma and Seattle. Though many of the students have become demoralized by the tuition increases and don't think there is much that can be done to fight them, many other students are rallying around these slogans and organizing themselves. For example, on Feb 20th, VVAW/WSO and RSB called a demonstration at the University of Seattle. Over 100 students came out to this very spirited demonstration and showed many other students that through unity, there is way to fight these kinds of attacks.

Washington is not the only state where tuition increases and cut-backs in education are being made, because these kinds of attacks are confronting students all over the county; and cut-backs in education are just a part of the overall attacks that are coming down on working people throughout the US. But these cutbacks can and are being fought. Hard times definitely are fighting times and the students in Washington are proving this out.