1. WHEREAS, the Student Government Association represents all undergraduate students at the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP); and,

2. WHEREAS for the past two decades the proportion of state funds as a percentage of revenue has dropped precipitously while at the same time, the proportion of tuition and fees has increased. In 1991 the state accounted for 45.12% of our total revenues while tuition accounted for 18.64% of our total revenues. In 2009, state funds account for 26.19% of total revenue while tuition and fees accounts for 26.53% of total revenue; and,

3. WHEREAS, 44% of students graduating from UMCP in the class of 2008 incurred debt; and,

4. WHEREAS, the average debt of those who graduated with outstanding loans in 2008 was $20,091; and,

5. WHEREAS, since 1978, for the over 600,000 Maryland citizens whose household income is less than $49,000 a year, the cost of attending UMCP has increased over three times as fast their income; and,

6. WHEREAS, Governor Martin O'Malley in his FY2011 budget proposal cut projected state appropriations and compensated for the shortfall by including a 3% increase to tuition, which amounts to approximately $196.98 per in-state student; and,

7. WHEREAS, UMCP has already cut $10.2 million through employee furloughs and have been forced to terminate contingent faculty, resulting in fewer sections and larger class sizes; and,

8. WHEREAS, UMCP is funded at $3,600 per student below the average of its five peer universities adding up to a total shortfall of $108M.

9. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the SGA is, on principle, against using tuition increases to compensate for demonstrably insufficient state funding; and,

10. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SGA urges the Maryland General Assembly to take appropriate action to ensure that the tuition increase does not disproportionally affect lower income students; and,

11. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the SGA urges the Governor and the Maryland General Assembly to increase the proportion of state funding of USM to levels accordant with our peer institutions in future budget proposals.