STAFF ED: Tution increase hard, but needed

Well, it's that time of year again.

Time for the University of Nebraska Board of Regents to pass its annual tuition increase, and time for students to shoulder a little more of the burden of budget shortfalls. For 2011-2012, the magic number is

5 percent. The Board of Regents met Friday to approve the increase. Last year, tuition went up 6 percent, and the year before that, 4 percent.

So this is no surprise. We've done this dance before, and the trends point toward continued tuition hikes in the future. As Regent Jordan Gonzalez pointed out, even with the increase, Nebraska schools still have lower tuition than their peers in the Big Ten, which are facing their own budgetary concerns.

For example, UNL's funding flows from a combination of tuition, state appropriations and private donations.

Schools like the University of Iowa are not so lucky: They draw no funding from private donors and face legislatures attempting to cut their appropriations. Thanks to donors and a friendlier state government, UNL's situation is not as extreme as Iowa's. At least, not yet.

This round of budget cuts will likely pass, as they have every year since 2002. There surely will be sufficient moaning and groaning from the student body, but it's important to understand the reasons behind these decisions.

These are financially tough times for public universities, and tough times call for tough decisions. It won't be easy for students to pay more, but there are no easy answers in this situation, as Chancellor Harvey Perlman and other officials have reiterated. The goal of a tuition increase is not to leave students out in the cold financially.

This year, as in years past, there will be a rise in need-based financial aid, according to the Board of Regents Chairman Bob Whitehouse.

The best students can do at this point is to get involved in the situation however they can. The University of Iowa's student newspaper, the Daily Iowan, recently published an editorial urging students to write to their state representatives, letting them know how important funding is for public education. Iowa is further down the road than Nebraska right now, but it's not too early for students here to contact state senators and do the same.

Otherwise, the decisions left to the NU Board of Regents (and in turn, student living conditions) will only get tougher.

opinion@Dailynebraskan.com