The MSU Board of Trustees’ 8.5 percent tuition hike for the 2002-03 school year is a regrettable measure to have to take. But it is an unfortunate necessity if administrators are to maintain the standard of education and quality of campus life that we enjoy.

After last summer’s 8.9 percent tuition hike, students are beginning to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to increased rates and emptier wallets.

We have left the era when President M. Peter McPherson’s Tuition Guarantee kept our tuition increases at an average of 2.8 percent for seven years. With the guarantee gone, students should probably expect tuition increases to be more commonplace. And instead of the easy adjustment of a few percentage points, very large increases could become a commonplace occurrence.

This increase is a signal to students who have spent four, five or even six years in the higher education system - get out while you can. It’s time to wrap things up before they get even more expensive. Tuition may come to a point where the acceptance of the five year degree becomes far too expensive for anyone to consider an option.

This does not bode well for new students either. If rates continue to jump, many people can get left out and denied a college degree because it might simply become too expensive. Many students who already face large debts and multiple jobs to make ends meet could find cost too great to make college a feasible option.

It’s also somewhat of a shame that this has happened during the summer after the majority of MSU’s students return home, and nobody gets to say anything about it. Such an important discussion would greatly benefit from the inclusion of the participation by those who will be signing the checks.

We’re fortunate that Gov. John Engler and state legislative officials promised to keep higher education funding at the same level as it was this year, provided that Michigan’s universities keep their tuition increases at or below 8.5 percent.

However, there is the chance that state officials might not be able to keep that promise, due to their inability to project their income - and the fact that this shaky promise is the only thing keeping tuition increases from skyrocketing even more is very unsettling. The foundation that the promise is built upon is far from stable and could lose ground at any time during any year.

But students need not get bent out of shape over the tuition increases. As long as the money goes to improving the university and keeping its educational standards as high as it has been, then all we can do is continue to sign our checks and hope for the best.