Arizona schools chief Diane Douglas supports Board of Regents lawsuit
Sep 20, 2017, 4:57 PM
(Milken Family Foundation Photo)
PHOENIX — Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas said she supports the lawsuit against the state’s Board of Regents over an “unconstitutional” rise in tuition prices.
The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 8 by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, alleging that the board “dramatically and unconstitutionally” increased the price of in-state tuition and mandatory fees by “315 to 370 percent” in the last 15 years. It also claimed part-time and online students have been charged significantly more than the actual cost.
The lawsuit also claimed the board’s decision to grant in-state tuition to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients “[risked] triggering a federal requirement that in-state tuition benefits must be extended to all U.S. citizens.”
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In a press release on Wednesday, Douglas backed up the three “types of unlawful conduct” that Brnovich included in the lawsuit, including that the board’s tuition-setting policy does not comply with Arizona’s constitutional mandate to make public universities “nearly free as possible.”
“That is plainly not the case in our state right now,” part of the release read. “We want to set our children up for success when they graduate from college, not be riddled with so much debt that their choices are limited.”
Douglas called for education officials to have a “serious conversation about controlling the cost of a college education in Arizona,” adding that “it fits within the larger dialogue of ensuring our financial resources are used wisely to ensure the best possible outcome for our children.”