Reduce Towson University's Fall 2020 Tuition
Reduce Towson University's Fall 2020 Tuition
The Issue
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently in the midst of a global health and economic crisis. In response to this pandemic, Towson University (TU) has made a decision, in alignment with the University System of Maryland, all Fall courses and many clinical and research experiences, if not eliminated completely, have been moved to an online format. As students, we respect and support these steps taken by the leaders of our university and the University System of Maryland to prioritize the health of students and their families, faculty and administrators, and our greater community. We acknowledge the work of our instructors this past Spring who spent countless hours transitioning their curriculum to an online format.
The students of Towson University have collectively discussed and agreed that tuition rates and fees for the Fall 2020 term, and any other term equally affected (this includes Summer 2020), should be re-evaluated and adjusted accordingly because the resources and facilities paid for by said tuition and fees are no longer available amid the global pandemic, and the online experience differs greatly from the face-to-face experience and should not be valued at the same cost.
First and more urgently, we humbly ask for a 25% reduction of the summer 2020 tuition and fees (doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate programs). In addition to the justifications described below, we would like re-evaluation of these tuition costs and fees to also take into consideration job loss, financial status change, and illness as a result of this pandemic.
Second, we are asking for a transparent breakdown of the Fall 2020 fees.
It is important to note that students have already made living arrangements for the semester/year before this university decision was made. Now they are unnecessarily paying for housing costs. Additionally, funding for a number of graduate assistantships which offer tuition remission, that would have been available if not for the pandemic, has been eliminated. There are also limited work study opportunities for students to work to reduce their financial requirements. It was also mentioned that the athletic fees will remain because a few students will have access to the athletic facilities. The majority of students will not have access to these facilities but will still be responsible for funding them.
Furthermore, the university claims that the shift to online instruction will not have any impact on the quality of education and thus does not warrant any reduction of tuition costs. As a result, the tuition for this fall’s online courses and clinical experiences remains the same as it would for face-to-face instruction. This assumes that the online experience is valued at the same cost as the face-to-face experience. However, this assumption does not take into account that synchronous classes have been discouraged and as a result, many lectures are recorded which means they are less engaging, provide no opportunities for live discussions, questions, or interactions between students, and limit access to instructors to email only. Clinical experience in graduate programs has also been moved online which has resulted in students receiving less clinical hours than they expected to at the current cost of tuition. Some clinical experiences now involve simulations which are valued significantly less than in-person, real-world experience. In order to participate in online instruction, we have also needed to ensure that we have adequate internet to access the course material and in some cases have needed to upgrade our internet to do so. When all of these variables are added to the distractions that are present at home during this pandemic, it is clear to see that the level and quality of learning has decreased and is not equal to what would have been received in the classroom. As previously mentioned, we appreciate the hard work of our instructors and the concern by administrators for the health and safety of the TU community, but the online experience is not valued equally to the face-to-face experience we chose when enrolling in our respective programs at Towson. We believe Towson University should acknowledge these differences and adjust tuition accordingly.
We do acknowledge that Towson University, as a traditional university, is still responsible for previously committed salaries, overhead, and other operating costs. We also recognize that social distancing is vital for the health of the public. However, after our recent spring semester where we received 50% of our education via face-to-face instruction and 50% via an online format, we believe the numerous and priceless missed hours of face-to-face instruction and clinical experience have and will continue to impede us from obtaining the richness and breadth of the educational experience we are paying for.
The students of Towson University join with students from numerous other universities and colleges across the United States in their petition for the reduction of Fall 2020 tuition rates and fees (refund of Summer 2020 tuition) for the mandatory online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We thank you for your time and consideration and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
References:
https://learn.neumann.edu/news/neumann-university-lowers-tuition-for-summer-courses
https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2020/05/13/a-look-at-summer-online/
https://www.centredaily.com/news/local/education/penn-state/article242049646.html
https://www.affordablecolleges.com
This section is from the previous petition that circulated in the summer: Please also consider the tuition changes that other universities have made regarding the upcoming summer semester. The University of Texas at Austin has reduced summer tuition to 50 percent of the rate for fall and spring semesters instead of the usual 85 percent. American University, Winthrop University, and Montclair State University are offering a reduction of their summer tuition for graduate and undergraduate courses that are now being offered online. Due to the pandemic and move to an online format, Neumann University’s summer tuition for traditional undergraduate courses drops from $715/credit to $500/credit. The per-credit tuition falls to $570 for master’s degree programs (usually $660 to $770) and to $750 for doctoral programs (usually $900 to $990). Penn State World Campus, which provides online instruction, costs less than their face-to-face instruction and they’ve reduced their summer rates by 23 to 34 percent to match the cost of their World Campus courses. Furthermore, distance learning programs generally cost less than their on-campus equivalents; traditional degrees cost around $80,000 while online degrees cost around $30,000 (AffordableColleges.com, 2020).
**We may need to widen this petition to include all USM universities. Please reach out to me if you have ideas of how to do this. Thanks!**
The Issue
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently in the midst of a global health and economic crisis. In response to this pandemic, Towson University (TU) has made a decision, in alignment with the University System of Maryland, all Fall courses and many clinical and research experiences, if not eliminated completely, have been moved to an online format. As students, we respect and support these steps taken by the leaders of our university and the University System of Maryland to prioritize the health of students and their families, faculty and administrators, and our greater community. We acknowledge the work of our instructors this past Spring who spent countless hours transitioning their curriculum to an online format.
The students of Towson University have collectively discussed and agreed that tuition rates and fees for the Fall 2020 term, and any other term equally affected (this includes Summer 2020), should be re-evaluated and adjusted accordingly because the resources and facilities paid for by said tuition and fees are no longer available amid the global pandemic, and the online experience differs greatly from the face-to-face experience and should not be valued at the same cost.
First and more urgently, we humbly ask for a 25% reduction of the summer 2020 tuition and fees (doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate programs). In addition to the justifications described below, we would like re-evaluation of these tuition costs and fees to also take into consideration job loss, financial status change, and illness as a result of this pandemic.
Second, we are asking for a transparent breakdown of the Fall 2020 fees.
It is important to note that students have already made living arrangements for the semester/year before this university decision was made. Now they are unnecessarily paying for housing costs. Additionally, funding for a number of graduate assistantships which offer tuition remission, that would have been available if not for the pandemic, has been eliminated. There are also limited work study opportunities for students to work to reduce their financial requirements. It was also mentioned that the athletic fees will remain because a few students will have access to the athletic facilities. The majority of students will not have access to these facilities but will still be responsible for funding them.
Furthermore, the university claims that the shift to online instruction will not have any impact on the quality of education and thus does not warrant any reduction of tuition costs. As a result, the tuition for this fall’s online courses and clinical experiences remains the same as it would for face-to-face instruction. This assumes that the online experience is valued at the same cost as the face-to-face experience. However, this assumption does not take into account that synchronous classes have been discouraged and as a result, many lectures are recorded which means they are less engaging, provide no opportunities for live discussions, questions, or interactions between students, and limit access to instructors to email only. Clinical experience in graduate programs has also been moved online which has resulted in students receiving less clinical hours than they expected to at the current cost of tuition. Some clinical experiences now involve simulations which are valued significantly less than in-person, real-world experience. In order to participate in online instruction, we have also needed to ensure that we have adequate internet to access the course material and in some cases have needed to upgrade our internet to do so. When all of these variables are added to the distractions that are present at home during this pandemic, it is clear to see that the level and quality of learning has decreased and is not equal to what would have been received in the classroom. As previously mentioned, we appreciate the hard work of our instructors and the concern by administrators for the health and safety of the TU community, but the online experience is not valued equally to the face-to-face experience we chose when enrolling in our respective programs at Towson. We believe Towson University should acknowledge these differences and adjust tuition accordingly.
We do acknowledge that Towson University, as a traditional university, is still responsible for previously committed salaries, overhead, and other operating costs. We also recognize that social distancing is vital for the health of the public. However, after our recent spring semester where we received 50% of our education via face-to-face instruction and 50% via an online format, we believe the numerous and priceless missed hours of face-to-face instruction and clinical experience have and will continue to impede us from obtaining the richness and breadth of the educational experience we are paying for.
The students of Towson University join with students from numerous other universities and colleges across the United States in their petition for the reduction of Fall 2020 tuition rates and fees (refund of Summer 2020 tuition) for the mandatory online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We thank you for your time and consideration and we look forward to hearing from you soon.
References:
https://learn.neumann.edu/news/neumann-university-lowers-tuition-for-summer-courses
https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2020/05/13/a-look-at-summer-online/
https://www.centredaily.com/news/local/education/penn-state/article242049646.html
https://www.affordablecolleges.com
This section is from the previous petition that circulated in the summer: Please also consider the tuition changes that other universities have made regarding the upcoming summer semester. The University of Texas at Austin has reduced summer tuition to 50 percent of the rate for fall and spring semesters instead of the usual 85 percent. American University, Winthrop University, and Montclair State University are offering a reduction of their summer tuition for graduate and undergraduate courses that are now being offered online. Due to the pandemic and move to an online format, Neumann University’s summer tuition for traditional undergraduate courses drops from $715/credit to $500/credit. The per-credit tuition falls to $570 for master’s degree programs (usually $660 to $770) and to $750 for doctoral programs (usually $900 to $990). Penn State World Campus, which provides online instruction, costs less than their face-to-face instruction and they’ve reduced their summer rates by 23 to 34 percent to match the cost of their World Campus courses. Furthermore, distance learning programs generally cost less than their on-campus equivalents; traditional degrees cost around $80,000 while online degrees cost around $30,000 (AffordableColleges.com, 2020).
**We may need to widen this petition to include all USM universities. Please reach out to me if you have ideas of how to do this. Thanks!**
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Petition created on June 5, 2020