The decision to raise tuition by 3 percent at the 14 schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education isn't a surprise. Even though the new state budget keeps funding level for the colleges, including Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, the institutions are still dealing with an 18 percent cut in the 2011-12 budget. Nevertheless, parents, students and everyone with a stake in affordable higher education in Pennsylvania is asking the same questions: Must tuition increase every year? And how will students pay back big loans taken out to pay increased costs? Undergraduate tuition will be $6,428 for 2012-13, up $198 from last year. The PSSHE Board of Governors emphasized that tuition increases have equaled the inflation rate in five of the last eight years. The governors also said the board promised Gov. Tom Corbett to keep the tuition hike low, in return for level funding in the 2012-13 budget.
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120716/OPINION01/307169996/0/OPINION06
