Texas A&M University is being criticized by a conservative student group for raising tuition in a meeting that took place nearly 150 miles from the main campus, Campus Reform reported.
The Texas Aggie Conservatives is arguing that the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents held a vote on Thursday in Galveston, home of the institution's marine and maritime studies, 147 miles from the main campus in College Station in order to increase tuition, Campus Reform reported.
"Well not only is the purpose of the tuition increase unfair and unjust but the university has not substantially informed students about the proposal," Kelsey Magliolo, executive director of the Texas Aggie Conservatives Executive Director, told KBTX.
Texas state law requires that a portion of Texas students' tuition go towards providing financial assistance for other students, Campus Reform reported. An increase in tuition would mean that a larger portion of Texas students' tuition would go towards providing financial assistance for other students.
In a prepared statement, the conservative group said that since 2006, each tuition increase vote had taken place near the main campus during March or May.
"For the sake of the interests of all Texas A&M students, the Texas Aggie Conservatives calls upon the Board of Regents to postpone their scheduled vote of Texas A&M tuition reforms until May and to hold the vote in College Station," the group said.
The organization also accuses Texas A&M University of failing to sufficiently notify students. The Texas Aggie Conservatives noted that the university only attempted "to collect feedback during finals period and winter break and did not send out a mass email to campus detailing the proposed tuition change," Campus Reform reported.
"Comprehensive details of the tuition proposal were not released until the Board of Regents posted their agenda last Friday as required by state law. The university did not respond last week to requests made by the Aggie Conservatives for the public release of the tuition proposal," the group said.
Reid Joseph, president of the university, released a statement regarding the tuition and fee program being considered.
"I believe that the guaranteed tuition and fee program being considered by the Board of Regents will effectively allow students and parents to budget for college and provide stability in our unstable economy. In my opinion, it is also in the best interest of Texas A&M as it will allow key leaders to make future decisions based on a fixed amount of revenue," he said in a statement.
The university's tuition in the fall of 2012 was $4,542. The proposed tuition hike would require freshman in the fall of 2015 to pay $250 more per semester than current freshmen.