Tuition rates will soar even higher next semester, but who is surprised about that? This is far from a new issue; it is just the next chapter.

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education approved a fresh round of tuition hikes last week. It staggered the increases so that community and technical colleges can implement an increase of up to 4 percent, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville are allowed 6 percent increases, and the comprehensive universities, such as MSU, can increase tuition up to 5 percent.

Earlier this semester President Andrews said he was worried that colleges would soon price themselves out of business, and they certainly are well on their way. This latest round of money snatching is small when compared to the increases of the past, such as the 8 percent increase at MSU in 2002. Other schools in the state were doubling that a few years later, like the 16.4 percent hike at NKU in 2005, or the 15 percent hike at UK that same year.

Look to the future Kentucky! The state’s best and brightest are coming out of college with so much debt they have to leave Kentucky to get good enough jobs to pay off their school loans. And imagine how many intelligent Kentuckians are skipping college altogether just to avoid being buried under a mountain of debt.

It is obvious why colleges increase their tuition. During the past few years, state government has balanced its budget in part by cutting allocations to education. Higher education has taken the brunt of the cuts to education spending. The state provides less money, colleges still need to pay the bills, and so they charge students more. In years of economic prosperity this wasn't so bothersome. But tuition has increased so much that middle class families simply can no longer afford college.

There needs to be a tuition cap to stop this annual increase. But most importantly, unless state government leaders are willing to forfeit all the progress Kentucky has made in the past couple of decades in combating the problem of an uneducated workforce, they will do what is right and quit turning their backs on state colleges and universities.

College is supposed to give its students a head start on their professional lives, but it is in danger of doing the opposite. If state leaders don’t find new ways of funding education, and yes, that might mean taxes, then state schools really will price themselves out of business. The state already has graduates leaving in search of enough money to pay their loans. If Kentucky stays the course and colleges keep pushing up tuition, the state will see more and more of the best and brightest leave for greener pastures. Kentucky is giving up its chance to hold on to these bright young professionals, and progress in the state will continue to decline until elected officials show enough backbone to fix the problem.