Taxes—not Illinois students—should be forced to carry the burden of a tuition increase on their shoulders.

This is what supporters of the proposed tuition freeze said Monday at NIU during one of nine Illinois Student Associaton news conferences held statewide. The only people who attended the conference were the media.

Within the past 10 years, NIU tuition jumped from $548 to $1,714, a $1,166 increase for undergraduate students, according to an ISA report.

Tuition is expected to rise another $118 in Fiscal Year 1990, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the report cited.

“We can’t expect the students to come up with the money (for a tuition increase), the state should come up with the money,” said ISA Chairman Jeff Russel.

ussel said it is not fair that students are forced to come up with the extra money for a tuition increase. The money should come from increased taxes, he said.

“Students are becoming less and less able to carry the burden of tuition,” said NIU Student Regent Bob Tisch.

“If they (voters) don’t want to support education, it says they don’t support the futures of their children,” Tisch said in respect to the tax increase.

ussel said Illinois is ranked second in the nation for students that go to out-of-state schools with lower tuitions.

“If they (legislators) need to make the tax increase a permanent thing, then that’s what they need to do to keep students in the state,” he said.

NIU Student Association President Huda Scheidelman said, “The state is requiring the students to carry the burden of higher education.”

Scheidelman said the SA is faulting the administration, the university and the state for tuition increases.

“We are no longer going to accept the notion that the administration is providing services at the optimal level of efficiency,” she said.

Russel said the administration needs to be more accountable for money received by the state. “We’re simply looking for accountability.”