Barrett, the Honors College is planning on increasing their fee from $750 to $1,000 a semester. This is an extra $500 dollars annually or $2,000 over the course of four years. This increase is unwarranted and unnecessary. Barrett students would be better served by proper allocation of current funds and an improvement in awareness around current resources.

The majority of current students are already under informed about all the diverse resources and services offered by the college. Due to the lack of awareness and subpar marketing (especially to sophomore, junior and senior students who do not live in the dorms) of available Barrett resources many students are simply unaware of the opportunities offered. This increase would disproportionately benefit those students who are already talking advantage of the Barrett resources and hurt the same students that the increase is intended to assist.

Additionally, the language around in the material presented to students is very ambiguous. In the flyer that was sent out it’s stated that the fee is increasing “to maintain and expand quality honors experiences” and for “student career development opportunities.” Neither of these reasonings are descriptive action items and just use empty jargon to sound official.

Furthermore, Barrett students had very little say in where the allocation of possible increased fees would go toward. Barrett prides itself on being the best honors college in the nation and they’ve done so by recruiting smart, ambitious, impactful and driven student leaders. Students who are already making a difference in their communities. To not give the affected population of a say in the matter seems counterintuitive to Barrett’s mission and goal to empower students.

Lastly on ASU’s website Michael Crow states:

“Six years ago, I made a promise that for 10 years, resident tuition would not increase more than three percent per year. This is the seventh year of that promise and for the 2018-19 academic year, I am proposing no increase in Arizona resident undergraduate student tuition and no increase in undergraduate class or academic program fees.”

Granted tuition and fees are not identical in their purpose and usage, should not a semblance of the same policy apply? An increase of $250 per semester is a 33% increase on the current fee of $750.

This policy is destructive to current and prospective Barrett students and will push many students away from the honors college. This would be a shame for Arizona State as an institution as they pride themselves on affordability and inclusiveness.

For further thoughts and opinions of current Barrett students please read the comments below.