Politicians talk. Students pay. This is the evil cycle that now faces the average college student, and will for years to come.

Bitter college kids nationwide can listen to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry blast President Bush for failing to increase the maximum award for the Federal Pell Grant, a program devoted to helping less fortunate would-be students attend college. Because Pell Grant increases have not kept up with tuition increases, the program that 25 years ago paid for 80 percent of tuition now only pays for 40 percent.

Bush counters by saying the program’s proposed budget has increased 47 percent since the 2001 fiscal year, which means the fund can provide scholarships to more needy students.

The great thing for both camps is their arguments are not incorrect, which is a divergent fact that most hardliners ignore. What should be frightening to students is that neither politician is incorrect, so for now, nothing is going to get done about the state of higher education.

No one has to tell students that they are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the cost of furthering their education. Fourth-year students at Iowa State have seen tuition increase more than 60 percent since they began at Iowa State. Since 1994, the cost of an ISU undergraduate degree has more than doubled.

For an ISU student, the maximum Pell Grant money they can receive is $4,050. During the 2001-2002 school year, the average award earned was $2,274. One year later, the average award increased $123. Tuition and fees during the same period increased $668 — more than five times the average Pell Grant award increase.

As promises come down from the presidential campaigns, the future of higher education looks more and more bleak, no matter which party is talking. Bush has glazed over Pell Grants in this campaign, probably in an effort to not repeat the broken promise he made in 2000 when he said he would increase first-year maximums to $5,100. Like many campaign promises, the increase never came to fruition.

Kerry is currently trotting down Bush’s four-year-old path. He wants $207 billion for education in the next 10 years, according to The New York Times, and will use the money to expand after-school programs and modernize tuition tax credits.

The Times also reported Kerry wants another $55 billion for veterans’ health care and more money for technology and soldier increases. When these numbers don’t compute to allow Kerry to continue any kind of tax cut, who will suffer?

College students … like always … no matter who wins.