Two old foes will likely face off in the voting booth this November. Former Gov. Robert Ehrlich announced his bid for governor earlier this month, and Gov. Martin O’Malley is set to make his announcement for reelection next week. Marylanders will have to make a familiar choice between a man they voted out of office four years ago and a man they may want to vote out of office now.
But the race between O’Malley and Ehrlich is not the only instance of déjà vu hitting the state’s political arena. Ehrlich’s contemptuous and hostile attitude toward higher education is, again, rearing its ugly head. Yesterday, Ehrlich said on the Baltimore radio show Midday on WYPR that the tuition freeze, which has held in-state tuition steady for the past four years, has “hurt higher education” in the state. Even though Ehrlich is in the midst of a campaign running as the underdog, we can’t help but wonder how a former governor could make such a false statement.
During his term, Ehrlich hit higher education like a wrecking ball. Early on, he cut state funding for higher education, causing tuition at this university and others to skyrocket 40 percent — an increase similar to that facing public universities in California, where protests and riots have rocked campuses. In his 2006 campaign, O’Malley capitalized on voters’ dissatisfaction with Ehrlich’s attitudes toward higher education and pledged a tuition freeze.
And he carried through. O’Malley froze in-state undergraduate tuition for four years and increased state support by more than 30 percent to makeup the difference. An undergraduate education at this university stood as the sixth most expensive in the country when Ehrlich left the governor’s mansion. It has since dropped 15 spots to become the 21st most expensive.
But no tuition freeze can last forever. And although in-state undergraduates will see their tuition bill rise 3 percent this fall, Ehrlich’s assertion that higher education in the state has suffered under the O’Malley administration flies in the face of reality. In many ways, this university has never been more highly regarded. We are currently considered the 12th best public university in the country by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. And we are placed as the eighth best value in public higher education — a ranking that combines cost and quality — by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
And according to University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan, state universities have seen a rise in resources throughout the tuition freeze. Although in-state tuition for undergraduates remained frozen, out-of-state and graduate tuition has continued to bring in revenue. And while the Board of Regents has proposed a tuition increase every year, Annapolis has compensated by increasing state support.
The tuition freeze has allowed this university and others in the state become affordable world-class institutions. Hard economic times have brought upon a thaw — but in a reasonable way that will continue to maintain accessibility and quality for Marylanders.
However, if Ehrlich’s comments yesterday tell us anything, it’s that another Ehrlich administration will come down like a sledge hammer on students’ and their families’ wallets. Such action would sacrifice not only the university’s caliber but also the ability of thousands to afford an education. The chaos that has engulfed California’s public universities may seem a world away right now, but it could be knocking on our door come November.
