Do you want to see your tuition go up 10%? Yeah, me neither.

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:02:07 -0400

Next year, the University System of Maryland could face devastating budget cuts that will compromise the affordability and quality of higher education. Because the Maryland General Assembly failed to pass a revenue package to fund the budget, a contingency budget known as the Doomsday Budget will go into effect. This budget makes deep cuts to almost all government spending activity, including funding for UMBC.

The state must call a special session and agree on passing a responsible revenue package that will restore funding to USM. Before the Doomsday Budget was enacted for the next fiscal year, legislators had almost agreed to limit the increase of tuition to about 3%. Under the Doomsday Budget, at least 38.5 million dollars will be cut from higher education and this will mean at least a 10% increase in tuition.

But that’s not all. Since the cuts are so deep, almost all aspects of campus will be impacted. Professors won’t get a cost of living adjustment on their salaries this year, student fees will climb, food and services will be more expensive and departments will have less money to spend on development.

TL;DR? Here are three easy steps you can take to make a huge difference.

Step 1) Make your voice heard - Contact Your Reps!
We've made it super easy for you to do that, too. The University System of Maryland Office of Governmental Relations has set up a CapWiz e-mail campaign regarding the Doomsday Budget cuts. The emails will be sent to Governor O'Malley, Lt. Gov. Brown, and your representatives to the Senate and the House. Just click the link below and use one of the pre-written messages or type up your own!

CLICK HERE: http://capwiz.com/usmd/issues/alert/?alertid=61222556

Step 2) Like the Page!
Stay updated and connected, and help us show our strength in numbers!
http://www.facebook.com/RetrieversForAffordability

Step 3) Spread the Word!
Change your profile picture, share the facebook page, or better yet, the capwiz link! We've got you covered on twitter too - just use #retrievers4affordability to tell us what these budget cuts would mean for you.
The more students we get talking about this, the bigger an impact we can have!