Gov. Martin O'Malley, sleeves rolled up, perched on a stool in the Towson University student union Thursday, moments after the Board of Regents voted unanimously to freeze in-state undergraduate tuition for the fourth straight year.
"That is quite an accomplishment," he told a group of students. Regents said they would have raised tuition by 4 percent, but the governor provided the state system with an extra $16 million to hold the line. The accomplishment, then, was as much O'Malley's as the regents', and he savored the victory yesterday in a year that has not always been kind to him.
"Our state's future competitiveness, our global strength, depends on our ability to invest in the skills of our people," O'Malley said. "To govern is to choose, and in our state we've chosen to make public education and affordable, accessible, quality higher education a priority."
The freeze is unusual at a time when state budgets are taking a beating from the recession. Some states have cut deeply into higher education, forcing double-digit tuition increases. Tuition is going up by 10 percent in California, 14 percent in New York and 25 percent for incoming freshmen in Georgia.
"This is the worst year to raise tuition because look at what's happening to families," said William E. Kirwan, chancellor of the Maryland system. "Loans are harder to get. Family members are losing jobs. ... We have to really appreciate the special thing that is happening in Maryland."
O'Malley priority
O'Malley made freezing tuition a priority as he positions himself for an expected re-election run next year. He did not meet all of his goals in the legislative session that just ended - the death penalty was not repealed, and lawmakers rebuffed his proposal to exert more regulatory control over electricity markets - but holding the line on tuition was a clear victory.
Some political observers, however, said the tuition freeze might not score O'Malley many political points. Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus of political science at the Johns Hopkins University, called the move "a symbolic gesture that appeals to a relatively small constituency" and one that voters might disregard in the face of a crushing recession.
"People are just swamped, overwhelmed about scary things happening in the economy," Crenson said. "There are too many other things going on right now."
Tuition up for some
