A tuition increase can be caused by many different factors, including a lack of state funding and budget increases. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and board members said they worked to keep the 2012-13 budget increase to a low level of only 3 percent, but each part of the budget must be analyzed and audited to make sure there is not any wasteful spending. When the budget increases, most of the burden is placed on the students to pick up the deficit.

A tuition increase only places more of a financial strain on students who already are struggling with student loan debt. According to the Project on Student Debt, the average debt of MSU graduates in 2010 was $21,818, with 45 percent of 2010’s graduates graduating with debt. As tuition rates continue to increase, the amount of debt will increase as well.

Simon said the financial aid budget is up an additional 6.5 percent for the 2012-13 academic year. This will help to alleviate the stress placed on students to pay for school, but it does not solve the problem of skyrocketing tuition rates and the high costs associated with higher education.

If the cost to attend MSU and other colleges continues to increase as it has, many more graduating seniors may consider attending community college or choose to go to school in their state to pay lower tuition fees. If this occurs, MSU could soon see lower overall application and admission rates because of its high cost of attendance.

The state has a prominent role in these tuition increases, as funding for higher education has decreased substantially over the past few years. The state Congress recently released its higher education budget, which appropriated the same amount in general higher education funds to MSU as the 2011-12 academic year. This was a relief to many, because between the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 budgets, the state cut funding 15 percent. MSU will receive additional performance funding of about $3.4 million if it meets certain criteria set by the state.

One of these requirements is MSU must get rid of its current mandatory health insurance plan. The board and the university should seriously consider abolishing this health care mandate on its students if it restrains our funding from the state.

Although MSU’s Board of Trustees could have raised tuition on each student by a higher percentage, no student is happy with having to hear of tuition increases next year. Hopefully, the yearly tuition increases soon will come to an end, and college will be more affordable for prospective students than it is now.