University officials have been expressing concern that the recent tuition increase, brought on by the severe budget cuts the state is facing, will cause out-of-state students to leave Iowa State next year.

Enrollment was at a record high this year, and officials do not want to see those numbers drop because of financial reasons.

The budget cuts were inevitable – everyone knew they were going to happen and everyone knew it would be a hefty increase. There had to be a decision made, and rather than decrease the quality of education Iowa State provides, tuition went up. This, believe it or not, was a wise choice.

If the administration is worried about out-of-state students leaving or future out-of-state students not coming to Iowa State, they need to be concerned about the quality of education and not the price.

Iowa State, when compared to other land grant institutions, is relatively affordable.

Next year, with the tuition increases, out-of-state tuition will be $7,251 at Iowa State. Sure, that may be a large jump over what students are paying now ($2,026 more), but put it up to prices at comparable schools and Iowa State is still among the cheapest.

Out-of-state students at the University of Illinois pay $6,807. At Purdue, tuition is $6,936 for out-of-state students. Both schools are big competitors for students with Iowa State. At the University of Arizona, out-of-state tuition costs $10,356. At Ohio State, it’s $13,554. At the University of Minnesota, it’s $15,002.

So Iowa State is still affordable, tuition increases and all.

Would people rather have tuition stay stagnant, which would in turn decrease the quality of education the university provides?

Cutting classes, combining majors and making resources harder to come by for students are the reasons students will leave.

And out-of-state high school students won’t even consider Iowa State in the future if it no longer can compete academically with similar schools. Low tuition alone will not make our campus competitive.

Iowa State is still ranked quite high nationally in certain areas – veterinary medicine, engineering, agriculture. In order to keep that high ranking and work toward becoming “the best land grant university in the nation,” it still must be able to pump out a high-quality education for its students.

And by raising tuition during times of economic hardship, we can keep striving toward that goal.

Tuition increases are hard on everyone. Some students might not be able to afford to come back next year because of it.

But to sacrifice future students from coming here and the quality of education we provide for the sake of keeping our already-low tuition where it is wouldn’t be in the best interests of anyone.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell