On Thursday, 65 students gathered at the University of Utah advocating for free tuition at public universities, forgiveness of all student debt, and implementation of a $15 minimum hourly wage for university employees.
Ian Decker from the Revolutionary Student Union helped organized the event called Million Students March.
“In other parts of the country we’ve won tuition freezes in some of the most conservative states in the country,” Decker said. “The point is that it can be won, we’ve seen it being won, but we’ve got to make our demands realistic and we’ve got to remain committed.”
Matthew Chingos, senior fellow at the Urban Institute said there are many reasons why tuition has been increasing nationwide.
“More people are going to college. People are staying in college longer—they’re getting more degrees,” Chingos said. “But then it’s also gone up because people are paying more out of their pockets.”
Another organizer, Samuel Grenny said protests like this in Utah are part of a larger movement across the nation, but he also said the movement needs to keep perspective on what is realistic.
“Right now do I think by the end of this year, will we have, you know, cancelations of student debt or free tuition or any of that, no of course not,” Grenny said. “But do I believe that we can absolutely achieve a tuition freeze and build to a larger national student movement, yeah, absolutely.”