We want to rail against the increase because no one wants to pay more. We don’t want more debt even as our opportunities to work that debt off after graduation slowly disappear. There isn’t anything happy about the price of education continually increasing without an end in sight, as the preliminary budget for 2011-12 caps the tuition increase at 7.2 percent. Increases are inevitable. The response is to shrug and go about our business — not much else to do, is there?

In an article in Central Michigan Life, Central Michigan’s student newspaper, Lawrence Sych, an associate professor of political science at Central Michigan, said higher education is one of the few programs in the general budget that can be cut and still function. He goes on to say that the attitude of Michigan legislators is “if we cut colleges and universities, they can increase tuition.” And, as we can attest, that is exactly what happens.

Students have traditionally been privy to the ins and outs of the maxim, “S—- runs downhill.” Legislators cut the budget, universities increase the tuition and the Lansing State Journal writes an article where students such as packaging senior Kara Curran say a small increase “is better than having a high one.” True as that is, it doesn’t seem right.

Welcome to Michigan, where our slogan is, “The lesser of two evils.” Or, “The devil you know.” After all these years of increasing tuition, it has to be either the only way or the best of a bad bunch of ideas.

Perhaps we are not without hope. MSU’s financial aid will increase 13 percent — about $10.8 million — next year. That’s a small glimmer of hope for the most adversely affected students. For those above the cutoff for significant aid, there might be some sliver of salvation as Michigan legislators try to work out a compromise on the higher education appropriation bill.

We also can hope MSU officials find a creative way to follow the example of Eastern Michigan and not raise tuition at all. Or, even better, go the route of GVSU President Thomas Haas and find the magic number that would allow the school to decrease tuition.

What we shouldn’t do is accept that the only way for public higher education to be viable is to make it unaffordable.

Right now, it feels like because of some lack of creativity or compromise on the parts of legislators, universities are pressing the students and their families to death. MSU’s trustees might be working to add only small stones, but the end result will be the same.