While students and administrators are facing the decisions made through the final budget cuts of the last year, the Board of Regents is planning to release tuition increase estimates for next year.

Rumors are that preliminary tuition increase estimates could be as high as 15 percent.

A 15 percent increase after last year’s 9.9 percent could be a drastic financial change for many students.

We realize tuition is going to go up.

But with this bad news comes a glimmer of hope.

Instead of waiting for their presentations at a Regents meeting, this year’s Government of the Student Body executives are making moves to limit the tuition increase.

GSB President Andy Tofilon and GSB Vice President Charlie Johnson have been meeting with the new three regents to discuss the financial difficulties facing students and the possibility of a 15 percent increase.

Our GSB leaders are lobbying the Regents for a lower increase, something students can handle, most likely around 9.9 percent.

But Tofilon and Johnson are working to change that.

They are working to get the regents on our side, or at least see the students’ side.

And in the early stages maybe their lobbying is working.

One the new regents, Amir Arbisser, said he wants to keep education affordable because “public education is one of the real jewels of Iowa.”

Public education is a jewel.

It needs to be a jewel every student can afford.

But the question everyone will be asking is “what is affordable?”

Tofilon and Johnson are working with regents to find an answer to that question everyone can handle.

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