SMCM Lands Itself on Yet Another Prestigeous List of Colleges!!!

WOW not only is SMCM (or should I say ST. M's?) is once again on a great list of colleges! This time unfortunately we only came up at #6.

The list is a list of MOST EXPENSIVE PUBLIC COLLEGES #PANIC.

Yes, even tho SMCM/ST. M's reduced tuition last year (after 5 years of increases) it is still kinda expensive for the average person/peasant.

You can read the whole article at Arianna Huffington's new blog The Huffington Post. SMCM clocks in at around 14.5k, whereas the number 1 spot went to the University of Pittsburg, at around 16.5k.

So you heard it here first folks, SMCM needs to increase tuition by $2,000 and we can snag that #1 spot!!!

Here is a fun fact: cost of living in St. Mary's County is low. Let's look at where some of the other colleges are located!

1. Pittsburg (major city/shitty)
2. Pennsylvania
3. New Hampshire (expensive)
4. Colorado (expensive)
5. Vermont (expensive)
6. Us!!! (cheap area)
7. New Jersey (not cheap)

so idk

Tuition to be Reduced by 8.6%

Wait, seriously? Tuition is going down? By 8.6%?

This is crazy awesome news. The rate reduction only affects in-state students, which I guess sucks for out of state students but it makes sense considering the money is coming from the MD General Assembly.

All of this is due to Chip Jackson, I'm pretty sure. Also Senator Roy Dyson. Roy Dyson is a pretty good senator because he immediately made a beeline towards the bar when he came to the legislative reception. Longtime readers will know of my undying love for Chip Jackson, even though sometimes he thinks my name is Ben.

Look at that handsome devil w/interim prezzy Newbould (also Chip Jackson is there).

Hopefully this signals increased support from the state government. One reason that tuition has gone up at many colleges is because the state support has not increased as quickly as inflation (or at least I am pretty sure this is true ???)

St. Mary's Tuition Increasing ONCE AGAIN

Once again St. Mary's tuition will be increasing over the next two years, this time by 0% (for in state students only).

Wait. 0%? As in, no increase? As in tuition is staying the same? As in there is no increase for the first time in years?

This is weird, I don't know how to react. There have tuition increases every year for the past...many years. I don't really feel like looking up what those increases were (via lack of investigative journalism) but I know that c/o 2012 kids had increases every year. Tuition is about 15k according to collegeboard (SMCM says that its 12.5k...but that ignores the 'mandatory fees' which is definitely tuition) which is a lot more than I remember paying.

If memory serves I was looking at about 24k a year (including tuition, housing, board, books, etc.). Now that figure is closer to 30k. I realize the the price of things goes up over time, but that seems a bit extreme.

The bigger issue, I think, is that the Board of Trustees wanted a 4% tuition increase that will now be paid by the state for two years. What happens after that two years?

But on the other hand I'm really proud of Tom Botzman who was (probably) critical in getting this done and I'm happy that for the first time that I know of SMCM is getting a tuition freeze. I'm sure a lot of students and parents are happy right now.

Tuition

Urgo Responds to Criticism EDITED/UPDATED

Urgo, a week later, sent out the following email about the Admissions changes:

Dear St. Mary’s College Community,

News of changes in Admissions and Financial Aid took many by surprise. I want to outline the reorganization of our admissions and financial aid functions and articulate why these changes will move the College forward in significant ways. The new strategy has necessitated a reorganization of positions, which included the departure of colleagues who have contributed a great deal to the College over the years. We will miss Rich Edgar and Lisa Crowe. I want to thank them for their hard work over many years in the service of St. Mary's, and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

For years, St. Mary’s College separated its admissions from its financial aid processes. In Admissions, we admitted students regardless of their financial profile and awarded merit aid to the highest achievers. Then, in Financial Aid, we distributed our limited budget for need-based aid equitably among accepted students who qualified, and capped the amount any single student would be awarded. These policies resulted in many students being left with a large gap between what they were awarded and what they could afford, and we lost many students whom we believed would benefit from  a St. Mary’s College education. 

We need to do better—and we will. 

In order to offer prospective students the opportunity to benefit from the St. Mary’s experience, we will integrate admissions and financial aid and, for this reason, the reorganization of these two divisions at the College is critical.

Under the guidance of our legislative charge to be “affordable to all and thriving on diversity,” we will admit students and strive to make their attendance at St. Mary’s College financially possible. Wherever we are able, it is our plan to offer larger grants and smaller loans to students with financial need. We are in the planning stages of a campaign to raise private funds to help us move toward the goal of placing St. Mary’s College within financial reach of any student whom we admit.

We will also continue to award merit scholarships in strategic ways. In 2012-13, students will be required to apply for merit aid, and scholarship applicants will also be asked to submit the FAFSA to determine if they might qualify for federal and state funds.

In order to achieve the best possible mix of students in our community, it is imperative that we select our classes from a broad and deep applicant pool. To date, our entering classes have been consistently strong. We must secure that strength going forward in an increasingly competitive environment.

We are casting a wider net for qualified applicants, revising recruitment materials, and stepping up fall recruitment travel schedules. We have streamlined the admissions process by becoming exclusive users of The Common Application. We’ve altered application deadlines, aligning them with other colleges in and out of state. Our applicant pool will be evaluated by committee to assure we continue to build the kinds of talented, quirky, independent-minded classes for which St. Mary’s has always been known, but which we risked losing without significant realignment of the Admissions and Financial Aid offices.

We’re not changing our end-goal, but our strategy is evolving. My commitment to you is to work to preserve what we hold most dear, and what we know as the essential spirit of St. Mary’s College. As always, I am available to discuss the reorganization or any other issues of concern.

This was a long email!  Let us ~analyze~ it.

Urgo states that "the news of changes in Admissions took many by surprise," which if we are to believe various rumors and comments on this 'student' blog would include Rich and Lisa themselves.  According to comments Rich had "and hour to clear out his desk" and "Lisa had no time to say goodbye to coworkers."  IDK how truthful these comments are, but that would be kinda 'shitty' if they are true.

So, according to Urgo this is all the result of decreasing number of applicants.  According to some INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM the 2016 class is comprised of LESS THAN 250 STUDENTS (usually it's like 400~).  Which is an absurdly low number.  Obviously something had to be done.  Urgo's first plan was to make St. Mary's less unique via jettisoning the old application and using the increasingly popular 'Common App'.  The Washington Post writeup covers this and explains it a bit (along with the whole situation, and links to SOMDnews.com but failed to reference this ever important 'student' blog) that basically you fill out on application and you can send that to lots of expensive fancy schools.  So, the idea was that by making St. Mary's, a college that is often described by many as being 'unique', less unique via a simpler application process more students would apply.  But clearly that didn't work since the incoming freshman class is UNDER 250 STUDENTS (btw this figure comes from a really reliable source). 

I would like to pause here because it seems like no one has even commented on the fact that perhaps applications are down BECAUSE TUITION HAS BEEN RAISED FOR FIVE OF THE PAST SIX YEARS.  And that tuition had doubled over the past decade.  Tuition has literally doubled over the past decade.

Okay.

Moving on, the 'mainstream' Common App clearly failed, so Urgo's next plan is to restructure how Financial Aid is distributed.  In the past St. Mary's used 'blind-based-need admissions,' meaning that you get admitted regardless of how much financial aid you need.  Which makes sense.  Actually I think I used the wrong term just now, but you should read the WaPo article for a fuller explanation.  Urgo wanted to change this system to 'need-sensitive' meaning that admission of a student will depend on the family's ability to pay for college.  I don't really understand this.  Are people's families actually able to pay for college, like...100k over the course of four years?  I thought everyone just took out loans that will stick with them for the rest of their life.  IDK.  Anyway, the idea is to admit people whose families can pay for college (is this a real thing?) and then to only admit some people whose families cannot pay for college.  By admitting fewer people 'whose families can't pay for college' they will be able to support those people better financially.

Okay, so the above got a little difficult to understand by the end because I forgot how to write coherently.  But the basic idea is, increase the amount of financial aid PER STUDENT that really needs it, and decrease the amount of financial aid going to other students.  So I THINK this means increasing for financial aid for really poor kids, and reducing financial aid for middle class kids who can't fully pay for college, via college is fucking expensive.  Which sounds okay, via getting more poor kids into college.  Also the total amount of financial aid money that is going towards 'need based' vs. merit is increasing from 25% to 50%, according to comments.

Sorry if none of the above made sense.  Some of my explanations may be way incorrect.  Anyway, it would seem that Rich and Lisa did not agree with this plan, and so they were sacked.  There are also allegations that the new VP Pat Goldsmith just wanted her own people in charge of Admissions and Financial Aid, and that she selected a friend for the job.  Who knows if those ~rumors~ are true though.

Okay so I think most importantly, what does this mean for the future of ~St. Mary's~ ???

I think that some people would agree that over the past few years as tuition rates have increased the number of really affluent students has increased.  I can honestly say that if St. Mary's cost what it does today, when I first applied, I would not have applied.  So, with the new system that gives financial aid for fewer people (but those that do get it will get a lot, which is great via supporting people who cannot afford college) I would imagine the number of 'affluent students' will continue to increase, similar to how nearby private liberal arts colleges (George Washington, Georgetown, American, St. John's, etc.) have lots of 'affluent students'.  Which in a sense is good for the school, via they will probably donate more.  And if the students are affluent/prestigious, then the institution will begin to be seen as 'prestigious.  The new policy seems like a deliberate effort to make permanent the changes that have occurred over the past few years, the increase in 'affluent students,' via pricing the college out of range of many students, those who can't afford the 15k+ tuition without any financial aid.

So IDK, that is my ~tin foil hat~ theory.  What do yall think ???  Any important points/issues I forgot to address?

Tuition

Some of yall may have read the Washington Post article about SMCM tuition http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/state-calls-on-st-marys-college-to-examine-high-tuition-rates/2011/05/23/AGuDFIBH_story.html  and how the State is mad that our tuition is so high.  I think this is the state's plan:

1.  Force college to spend more via requiring an increase in benefits
2.  Complain that college is raising tuition to pay for these mandates
3.  ???
4.  Profit!

SGA Meeting 12/8/09

SGA Whatup

EDIT: Hahah I'm dumb as shit, I originally had the date as 11/8/09. Thanks Lisa

8:01 - Meeting hasn't started yet, but everyone just realized that the Point News article about tuition increase said that it was going up by 3300$ instead of 700$. Nice job point news.

The increase is 3%, which would raise tuition by 700$ total for tuition, housing, and other costs etc.

Again, tuition is going up by 700$, not 3,300$. Point News Fail

8:09 - SGA Meeting Starting!

8:10 - Guest speaker is a gurrrl here to talk about Relay for Life. They are playing a video about it and it is depressing because cancer is :[.

8:21 - ugh this movie is 7 minutes long. This sounds like a really cool program and I hope it's successful.

8:23 - apparently you stay up all night. I don't really get it. There is also track running which is unfortunate because track running is difficult when tired.

8:26 - For real though this is a great program and it is the main event that the American Cancer Society sponsors, and I think this will really bring the campus community together.

8:29 - The one speaker, Erika/Erica (dunno how it's spelled), is saying that she wanted to bring the program here because of her best friend's death due to cancer, which is really sad :[

8:33 - Oh my god. Historical Swordsmanship Club. Need I say more? Okay so, one of the kids presenting this, we nicknamed him "German Longsword kid. And this club is literally all about German longsword fighting. So I think we gave him the best nickname possible.

8:36 - Oh my goodness he has been training in the art of German longswords for six years, this kid is amazing.

8:40 - They are going to use kendo sticks to practice. They are like japanese wooden swords or something.

8:43 - For real though they had a really great presentation, probably better than any other club this semester. It passed!

8:52 - Sola is talking about Programs Board fund requests. Kinda boring but she is doing a really great job of discussing what each club wanted and what they were given.

9:01 - Finance Board time! We will be approving club budgets, this will be exciting.

9:05 - Hahah what the fuck, Ski Snowboard club wants to take a trip to fucking Aspen. What is this, NYU or some shit? Actually the price isn't that bad cause one of the condos is free, and they will be getting free rentals.

9:14 - Still discussing this

9:22 - Still discussing this

9:27 - finally done discussing ski and snowboard club

9:28 - just kidding, someone brought it back up, le sigh

9:42 - blah blah blah

9:43 - Katie Caffey is sitting next to me and looks like she is from Zelda

9:45 - Oh my god someone wants to balance the budget and cut $11,000 from the budget. Dear god nooooo

9:55 - I just realized that I rarely say anything during SGA.

9:58 - FUSE wants Chocolate Vaginas, and let me be the first to say that chocolate vaginas are delicious.

10:01 - Robb Kirchner and Alex Walls are standing against the wall, I think they are tired of sitting.

10:07 - Done with the budget woot.

10:20 - Adjourned!

10:21 - Tomorrow is my birthday!