OUR VIEW: Tuition Hike tough to take, but unavoidable, necessary

As talks of tuition increases return to Utah State University, students are bound to get nervous. It’s understandable. Money is always an issue for students, who often have a lot of expenses and not a lot of time to work and make money.

However, USU students should be pleased about several things related to this year’s proposed increase.

For one thing, USU President Kermit L. Hall, who has proposed a 3.5 percent increase above the state-mandated 5.5 percent, is the only president of any Utah university who hasn’t yet given his recommendation to the Board of Regents.

Instead, Hall has told the Regents to wait until he gets student input. He has already presented his case to the Associated Students of USU Executive Council and will host an open forum for students April 12.

The presidents of all other Utah colleges and universities have already made their recommendations to the Regents, and their proposed increases have been approved.

Also, Hall has named several specific, important things he wants the tuition increase to be spent on.

The increase, estimated to raise about $1 million for USU, would be used to improve student-to-faculty ratios, work on raising freshman retention rates and graduation rates and improving the university’s libraries, among other things.

A tuition increase of 3.5 percent only means a little more than $30 per student. The cost of attending USU, even after the proposed increase, would still be less than the University of Utah and most other respected land-grant universities. While it is always hard for students to swallow a tuition hike, it is intended to improve the education students receive. If USU is to catch up with other universities, its tuition will have to increase to help pay for it.