Fear — it’s the emotion students associate with this time of year when the Iowa Board of Regents discuss and recommend a tuition increase for the following academic year.

This year, however, students breathed a sigh of relief when the Board of Regents announced a single-digit tuition increase for 2004—05.

Compared to the 17.6 percent increase for full-time undergraduates for the current year, a 7.9 percent increase for undergraduate resident students next year seems like cake.

Ironically, ten years ago students feared a 4.5 percent undergraduate resident tuition increase.

Until the 2001—02 academic year — when undergraduates faced a 7.2 percent tuition increase — students never saw a tuition increase of more than 5 percent.

For students today, a 5 percent increase would be an answered prayer and reason to celebrate.

Instead, over the past three years, the Board of Regents has approved a total of 51.6 percent in increases for resident undergraduates.

This just goes to show how students have become more and more conditioned to high tuition increases with each coming year.

Students have come to expect double-digit increases, so in a year when there is a reasonable tuition increase, students have been conditioned to think they are getting a great deal.

It has taken decreases in enrollment to make the Board of Regents realize students may not be able to bear the brunt of consistent double-digit tuition increases.

“We thought, ‘let’s cut undergraduates a break, since it does have an impact on the enrollment numbers,'” said Gregory Nichols, executive director of the Board of Regents.

This is the best statement yet on the tuition increases front — and Nichols is right on.

Students have been struggling through the high tuition increases — taking out extra loans, working more hours or holding two or more jobs, all sometimes at the expense of better grades or getting much-needed sleep.

Unfortunately, some students haven’t been able to work through the 51.6 percent of undergraduate tuition increases, instead being forced to transfer to community colleges or simply drop out altogether.

It isn’t an issue of students being lazy; it is sometimes simply impossible to afford such high tuition.

So to the Iowa Board of Regents — thank you for realizing that putting the brunt of budget shortages on students through high tuition increases isn’t a feasible solution.