It comes every year - a tuition hike making students cringe. For many, what follows is a frantic scrambling to come up with funds to pay the bill.

Students should be prepared for this to happen again this year.

The university is facing at least a 6 percent increase in tuition this fall.

The rise in tuition could be as much as 17 percent if the university does not get the funding desired from the state Legislature.

For the 2006-07 academic year, MSU's tuition went up 5.9 percent. This made it the fourth most expensive public university in the state, behind University of Michigan, it's Flint campus, and Michigan Technological University.

The university has $26 million in deferred payments from the state, which university officials hope to get.

Last year, state funding for the university was cut by more than $5 million. According to the Lansing State Journal, if that money is carried over into this years funding, in addition to the school receiving a Gov. Jennifer Granholm-recommended 2.5 percent increase, MSU only will need to raise tuition by 6 percent.

It seems both the state and the university are in the habit of gouging students. The state repeatedly cuts funding, while the university raises tuition instead of making cuts elsewhere.

Officials need to take the long view approach to this issue: Higher tuition for students will cause many students to choose alternatives to college or move out of state. The end result will be a less educated workforce available for the state. With workers unprepared for new and progressive innovations, the economy will stay at a standstill, something Michigan cannot afford to do.

The universities exist ultimately for the students and acts like this show officials have other priorities.

The way it plays out is that it is a seller's market. For the people who are choosing to attend college - something more and more employers are looking for - schools can increase tuition as much, and as often, as they would like.

Tuition increases are an easy way to make up for money shortages, since it does not hurt employee salaries, and they know students want a good job and will pay more money for a degree that will get them that job.

Students will continue to use the tried and true methods of raising money - take out loans, beg their parents for money, sell their possessions and take jobs in addition to their class load. They will go into debt for years if it gets them that piece of paper they need to enter the competitive working world after graduation.

Meanwhile, the university will keep up with its current habit of getting as much as it can out of students while they are here.