密歇根新闻广播 密歇根两所大学学费均超上限,打破州机制

 

The battle between Michigan's public universities and state lawmakers over funding has ramped¹ up in recent weeks.

Both Eastern Michigan University and Oakland University have busted² state-imposed tuition caps, deciding that the state's "reward" for not raising tuition just wasn't worth it.

The universities raised their tuition for the upcoming school year by 7.8% and 8.48% respectively.

David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press explains that since 2012, the state has placed a cap on how much universities can increase their tuition in a given year. That cap fluctuates year to year, but this year was 3.2%.

Staying under the cap means the schools will receive some extra "performance funding" from the state in addition to the normal base funding.

"You stay under it, you get all your performance funding. You don't stay under it, wave goodbye," he says.

The reason Eastern and Oakland decided³ to turn down that offer this year comes down to basic arithmetic, according to Jesse.

He says by breaking the tuition cap, these universities will see approximately ten times the amount of extra funding than if they had accepted the state's performance incentive⁴.

This decision has made some politicians unhappy, but Jesse says it's not one the schools have made lightly. The way they see it, they need more money in order to implement⁵ the plans and programs they need to remain competitive. Jesse says the universities are acting⁶ perfectly⁷ within their rights.

"Our constitution says that the universities are autonomous⁸ and they can do what they want," he says. "The

Legislature can't tell them what to do. But they can tie all sorts of things to finding. They can reward or punish with funding."

Jesse says although the tuition increase will give universities more flexibility⁹, it also puts more pressure on students and their parents to meet tuition costs.

David Jesse tells us more about the tuition decision and what impact it could have in our conversation above.

1 ramped   

土堤斜坡( ramp的过去式和过去分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• With the arrival of George Lucas, the pace has ramped up. 随着乔治·卢卡斯的到来，速度大大加快。
• They also sold corporate bonds as the global financial crisis ramped up. 在全球金融危机加剧之际，他们还抛售了公司债券。

2 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

9 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。