ASU President Michael Crow Weighs In On Brnovich Tuition Lawsuit

Published: Friday, September 15, 2017 - 2:42pm
Audio icon Download mp3 (12.89 MB)

Gov. Doug Ducey has weighed in on a feud between the state attorney general, Mark Brnovich, and the state university system.

Last week, Brnovich sued the state Board of Regents for raising tuition at the three state universities to an unconstitutional level over the past 15 years. But the governor defended ASU on Thursday and said that our state’s universities are accessible and affordable.

“It just got named by U.S. News and World Report as the No. 1 most innovative university in the country, beating out MIT and Stanford. So by those metrics, I think you would say these universities are oases of excellence. And they are also quite a value," Ducey said.

But Attorney General Brnovich said on The Show this week that they are not following the law that requires costs to attend Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University to be “as nearly free as possible.”

“When we see these buildings going up, and the universities buying property and they’re paying bonuses,  so, all the sudden, then you say, well if you’re a fiscal conservative, you start saying, well what are the universities spending their money on? What is driving these costs? And shouldn’t somebody be taking a look at it?” Brnovich asked.

I sat down with ASU President Michael Crow to talk more about this and about the attorney general’s decision to also sue over the university's decision to offer in-state tuition to so-called "DREAMers."

The Show