In theory, the University of Tennessee's proposed plan to increase tuition for in-demand majors is an unfair twist for some students.
Just because someone wants to get a business degree or a nursing degree, why should that person have to pay more for school than others who want to get degrees from lesser-demand programs?
In reality, however, the plan makes sense considering the funding-challenged state of public higher education. At UTC, for example, we've seen substantial progress toward academic respect nationally in recent years. But we've also seen the university struggle to make that happen in this world of budget reductions when more faculty and better facilities are needed to keep the momentum.
The result yields a kind of perfect storm that can make a talented and progressive leader such as UTC Chancellor Dr. Roger Brown lose sleep at night. On one hand, the university never has been better. On the other, it never has been so challenged simply because demand is bursting as dollars are shrinking.
It's the 21st century education dilemma, forcing university leaders to figure out how to do more with less.
That's why the proposed plan by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to charge more to students who want to enter the school's most popular programs makes sense. To meet facility and faculty requirements, the university must find ways to grant the opportunities. If not, in-demand programs will languish, harming the educational return for all students. That's also why Dr. Brown says he will keep a watchful eye on results if the University of Tennessee board approves the differential tuition plan.
He has to find solutions so student needs are met, and the opportunities for doing so in the current environment leave few other options. If it works, meaning UT installs the new plan and is able to meet needs without lowering student demand for now-more-popular programs, then one easily can see there's no better way.
Even if it does not seem fair to students who have to pay more.
The truth is that it's probably not fair in the most basic sense, which says that all students who want a public university education should pay the same price.
But considering the current environment, such a plan seems the only logical way universities such as UT and UTC can keep meeting needs where higher demand dictates.
E-mail David Magee at dmagee@timesfreepress.com.
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