Universities raise tuition for demanding majors

As tuition costs are already high, many universities are starting to charge students more money per credit for more difficult majors such as science, math and business.

According to research from Cornell's Higher Education Research Institute, more than 140 public universities now use "dif­ferential tuition" plans for different degree programs.

Students at Seton Hall believe the initiative could pass on to private universities.

Students from the Stillman School of Busi­ness pay the same tuition for their degree programs as students from the other colleg­es, however, two voiced their concerns with the policy that may affect the University in the future.

"University prices are already going up every year as it is, no one wants to take out extra loans or pay more especially with the bad job market," said Taahir Latif, a finance major.

"If it improves the business school and the resources it may be worth it. I wouldn't want to pay more without seeing actual changes," Latif added.

According to a report in USA Today, the number is increasing due to higher educa­tion spending that aims to expand and de­velop expensive programs for some majors.

Although schools may charge higher tuition for certain programs, according to the report, these new programs will be more beneficial to students because it can earn recent college graduates high­er-paying jobs.

Schools such as University of Nebras­ka-Lincoln and South Dakota State Uni­versity have already enacted as much as $50 more per credit than the average price for students who are a part of each respective business school.

Matt Otskey, a math major, said he thinks this new policy could cause stu­dents in particular majors to worry about future tuition increases.

"Personally I think it may cause more problems," Otskey said. "I mean, if you're going to charge a student more because of their major, you better make sure your professors are top notch and doing what they're supposed to be doing all the time," he added.

Otskey also said he wonders what would happen to students who decided to switch majors halfway through their undergraduate career.

"Would you have to then pay a high­er price because you decided to switch your major or would the school honor your initial tuition?" he said.

Rawan Eewshah can be reached at rawan.eewshah@student.shu.