With the start of this new Student Body Government session, we would like to send a clear message to our university officials and to the Iowa Board of Regents. This student government body will have absolutely zero tolerance for any more tuition increases.

We all understand and have to live with the stresses, the challenges and the debts that come along with this journey toward earning a college degree. However, we are constantly being asked to give more, even after the largest donation in university history this year, $94 million, and with the largest ongoing fundraising campaign in university history that has brought in $551 million so far.

Instead of finding ways to make budget cuts internally, our university officials continue to throw the students under the bus by advocating that the students pick up the price tag of their own financial mismanagement and inability to properly prepare for instances the university currently faces with the budget cuts made to higher education by the Iowa State Legislature.

Who is higher education benefiting the most? I would like to believe that education is in the best interest of the students, however, over the past couple of years, it has felt like the complete opposite. 

Over the past two years, the Iowa Board of Regents has continuously approved multiple tuition increases and continues to propose additional increases as we speak. These tuition increases at our institution have been designed incrementally in smaller amounts, however, an increase is an increase.

Which is yet again placing another burden on us the students who are here for one specific reason, to receive the best educational experience possible at the best value. Any tuition increase is absolutely detrimental to we the students; our goal is to create a campus atmosphere where our students can enjoy all that our amazing institution has to offer without having to worry about their tuition rates continuously being raised. 

It is time to hold our university officials accountable by making them take the initiative to find funding from within the university to cover the costs that it continues to pass on to the students.

In the coming weeks, the Student Body Government will work vigorously to come up with a comprehensive plan that will hold our university officials accountable, allowing the students to feel more like scholars and less like ATMs for the university. It is time to take a stand to make sure our tuition dollars are not being abused and are being used in the most efficient and effective manner to benefit the students.