This group’s message is pretty clear: Pay now or pay later.

Jacqueline Thomasen of Inside Higher Ed reports.

Spend or Be Taxed

Voters in Arizona may have a chance over the next few years to prevent future state cuts to higher education — with a catch.

An organization called Save Our Students is pushing an initiative that would prevent the Legislature from cutting higher education spending lower than 2015 levels, ban tuition for in-state students from increasing above the cost of living and lock incoming students at the same tuition for four years. College leaders often fear that when such proposals are made, states will stick to the tuition freezes but not to pledges on appropriations, leaving public colleges struggling to adequately meet student demand. But Save Our Students has a plan to make their agenda work.

If lawmakers violate any of these measures, a 2 percent corporate tax increase will kick in — a condition that could benefit higher education, but that could spell out doom for the movement.

This movement follows the largest cuts to higher education funding in any state this year. More than $99 million was stripped from Arizona’s budget for the state’s universities, which state officials blamed on a $1 billion deficit, and tuition has steadily risen at Arizona institutions over the past few years. Both facts were cited by Save Our Students leaders as leading reasons why Arizona’s public university system needs to be shielded from the actions of the Legislature.

The referendum does not refer to the state’s community colleges, but just the three major public universities. Two community college districts in Arizona saw their funding completely cut by the Legislature earlier this year.

Matthew Capalby, president of Save Our Students, said the guaranteed tuition rates make sense for middle-class families who need to plan ahead. As a parent with two children quickly approaching their college years, he said he was especially concerned about being able to save up enough to cover four years of education twice over.

Capalby, who is the former vice chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, also cited Arizona’s Constitution, which states that education at the state’s universities “shall be as nearly free as possible.”