As fall comes around, college students can expect to pay more in tuition. The MSU Board of Trustees announced on Monday that tuition will increase by 5.9 percent for in-state undergraduate students and by 6.9 percent for out-of-state undergraduate students.

Board member Dorothy Gonzales made a good point when she asked, "What is it going to be like in two or three years?" Gonzales believes the university needs to work harder to obtain more endowments and stop the trend of raising tuition.

If MSU wants to remain a competitive school in the state of Michigan and beyond, MSU's increasing expenses have to be paid for somehow. While donations from alumni can contribute to these costs, tuition is a reliable source of funding for the university.

Complaints about the increase in tuition are not surprising. From students paying for their education themselves to those feeling upset for their parents' losses, any increase in university costs is always greeted by unhappy students and parents.

Although students might be disappointed with the tuition hike, few students will leave the university because of it. As long as students keep shelling out, the university won't stop increasing tuition.

Making higher education more accessible should become a priority for the U.S. government. What would happen if a fraction of the money spent on the war in Iraq were given to universities to provide education for those students not able to pay for it themselves?

In that vein, the university will also be introducing Spartan Advantage, a program designed to help low-income incoming freshmen finance their education.

Making education more accessible is laudable, but the program won't reach everyone who's having trouble paying.

What about students already in their third or fourth years, struggling to fund their education? To qualify, students must have a family income level at or below $20,000 for 2006. What about those students with a family bringing in just over this figure?

College educations have become increasingly important in the United States' competitive market. In order to land certain careers, an undergraduate degree is less of a bonus and more of a standard.

But tuition prices and the rate of enrollment are related — so long as students keep applying and attending MSU, you can expect that prices won't decrease.

There's an old expression that goes, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." We can now add tuition increases to that list.