Omaha World-Herald Op-ed: Students can’t afford business as usual at the University of Nebraska
On Friday, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved a 4.25% increase to tuition — the third such increase in as many years. A student who started a degree three years ago will have watched their tuition climb more than 13%.
These increases come at a moment when organizations like Gallup have shown fewer students and families than ever believe a four-year degree is a sure path to prosperity , and when, according to the Federal Reserve, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates looks nearly indistinguishable from that of their peers without a degree.
I believe we owe honesty to the people and things we love most. In that vein, as someone deeply passionate about the University of Nebraska, I feel it's necessary to recognize some hard truths: enrollment is in decline, our tuition has been rising faster than most of our regional peers, and we receive more state investment than those same peers. All of this makes it incredibly hard to justify three straight years of tuition increases.
The economy and higher education are changing so fast that if we don't adapt now, we will be left in the dust.
So, what can we do?
First, as with most problem-solving, we have to acknowledge there is a problem. We must admit that tuition rates have grown too quickly at the University of Nebraska and are unsustainable, especially for the undergraduate population.
Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, our tuition has grown as fast as — or faster than — regional peers like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Purdue, the last of which has held tuition flat for more than a decade. That's especially concerning because, over that same period, Nebraska enjoyed more state appropriations investment than those peers.
Second, we need to set a clear expectation that raising tuition is not how the University of Nebraska should solve its financial problems — and we need to set in motion the operational changes necessary to stop relying on tuition as the solution to solving what have become structural institutional issues.
Other universities in the Big Ten have done what NU needs to do without jeopardizing faculty and staff pay, slashing programs, or dramatically increasing tuition.
Purdue is the gold standard in affordability and growth. It has kept tuition flat since 2013 while growing enrollment and receiving less in state appropriations — essentially doing the exact opposite of what we have experienced here in Nebraska. The University of Wisconsin did much the same, holding the line on tuition for roughly a decade, from 2013 to 2023. Using these two as examples, we need to chart a new course for the University of Nebraska.
Why isn't this happening?
I'd suggest it is because the work is genuinely hard. Making a Purdue-level change — reorganizing a 157-year-old, $3.6 billion, 16,000-employee enterprise — is daunting and admittedly challenging.
It will take buy-in that begins with the Board of Regents and runs through the whole institution, along with real support from key partners — the Nebraska Legislature, the governor's office, and others across the university. And it's truly impossible if the charge does not originate with the Board of Regents, as they are the ones who will need to support the University's senior leaders and hold them accountable for carrying it out.
The second reason is that there simply isn't enough pressure, internally or externally, on and from the current Board of Regents to keep tuition low — much less to reduce it. We cannot allow university leaders to continue ignoring basic economic principles, like simple supply and demand, until a true crisis occurs, such as enrollment completely cratering. If the goal is to grow enrollment — to grow demand — market fundamentals tell you to lower your price. We are doing the opposite.
This is what called me to run for the Board of Regents: keeping tuition low and access open for students like me — a public school graduate, a first-generation college student, and a Pell Grant recipient from North Omaha. I know what it costs families when institutions stop being affordable, and I know what it takes to lead one through that kind of pressure.
I run a Medicaid provider serving over 2,000 families and 1,800 employees across Nebraska and several other states. In that environment, raising prices on the people who depend on you isn’t an option — and neither is cutting their services. You find another way. That’s the experience I want to bring to the Board of Regents, and it’s exactly the kind of leadership the University of Nebraska needs right now.
If you agree that we can't afford business as usual, I invite you to visit SolomonForRegent.com to learn more — and to consider voting for me for the NU Board of Regents this November.
Justin Solomon is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Integrated Life Choices, a Medicaid provider headquartered in Nebraska. He's a two-time graduate of the University of Nebraska, former Student Regent and candidate for the NU Board of Regents.