DePaul University's Strategic Resource Allocation Committee (SRAC) is meeting this month to formulate a budget proposal and discuss the price of tuition for the coming year.

Student debt is now the largest debt bubble in the nation, tuition rates have risen over 400% in the last 25 years, and the collection rights of student loan companies are more expansive than any other loan system.

At DePaul University expansionist policies have caused tuition to rise 35% in the last seven years, causing the average undergraduate student to leave with $28,000 in debt and the average graduate student with $51,000. The administration plans to raise tuition significantly in the coming years as stipulated in the recently ratified 2018-2019 Master Plan.

This model of debt-driven education perpetuates systems of social inequality by prohibiting marginalized communities from entry into institutions of higher education. It also burdens graduating students with untenable quantities of debt during this time of economic crisis. A tuition hike therefore undermines DePaul’s Vincentian mission and its stated commitment to social justice.