To the Editor:
“Colleges Pile Renovation Costs Onto the Plates of Students” (front page, Dec. 6) describes a grotesque commodification of higher education. Burdening students with hidden fees, through partnerships with dining vendors like Aramark, so that universities can leverage glitzy buildings betrays the interests of students and taxpayers. Universities can be great without piling costs onto students.
Purdue’s president, Mitch Daniels, for example, has frozen tuition since his appointment in 2013. (Before then, tuition had increased 20 percent, adjusted for inflation, over the previous five years.) Unlike the schools your article describes, Purdue’s board of trustees recently implemented a 2.5 percentreduction in overall room and board rates, which included lowering prices for dining plans by 5 percent.
Sound management, focused on student needs and not on slick deals with service providers, will make college more affordable.
MICHAEL POLIAKOFF
Vice President of Policy, American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Washington
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