A tuition increase for Iowa’s public universities is no longer a case of if, but when. The past several months have been awash with talk of what can be done to combat the lack of funding for the three major universities as a result of Gov. Terry Branstad’s bud- get as well as what will happen when funding isn’t provided.

The Board of Regents original- ly requested a funding increase of more than $20 million to be split up among the three universities; howev- er, Branstad only allotted an increase of just under $8 million. This nearly $12 million deficit has put current and future students in a situation they should never have to face.

His budget was a far cry from what was necessary to keep things running smoothly at each university while avoiding a tuition increase, which has lawmakers saying that an increase is, at this point, likely.

Even with a valiant effort made by the legislature’s Education Appropria- tion Subcommittee — in the form of $2.218 million for Iowa State, $2.781 million for Northern Iowa and $1.3 million for Iowa — students are facing a tuition increase.

This has been a problem spanning the 2015-2016 school year and is not going anywhere, but the question is no longer why is this happening? It is instead why isn’t the legislation put- ting priority on the future of this state?

At Iowa State University alone, 62.4 percent of the students are from Iowa, so if the legislation made the right choice by investing in the university, as well as the other two, it would ben- e t Iowa’s future. Even if students end up leaving Iowa to nd jobs, they will take a quality education with them. They shouldn’t have to take with them a mountain of debt that is only rising.

This inaccurately placed priority highlights the legislation’s true abil- ity to look toward the future. In a job like theirs, one would assume that planning for the future of Iowa is all they do. However, if legislators aren’t willing to invest in people who are students now, but will eventually be the leading force in Iowa, it’s ques- tionable as to how well they are really doing their job.

No matter how large or small this looming tuition increase is, it is highly unlikely that its arrival will signal the end of increases — this is an issue that is not going away and this is an issue that needs to take priority for Branstad’s administration.