Our View

Saving money for a rainy day is not the easiest thing to do

right now.

The economy is getting stronger, but it still is not what it was

several years ago. Unemployment is on the decline, but college

graduates are still having trouble finding jobs.

And university tuition is likely going to skyrocket in the

not-so-distant future.

Tuition in the state of Colorado has risen steadily over the

past few years, but University of Colorado students might be

feeling shrinking wallets and bank accounts sooner than the rest of

the state, and CSU students are likely to be right behind them.

CU is pursuing state enterprise status, which would free it from

some of the financial constraints of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

TABOR limits the amount of revenue, tuition included, that a state

entity can take in.

Unfortunately, to cover the cost of becoming an enterprise, CU

students might have to handle a 9 percent tuition increase, rather

than a previously considered 6 percent, according to a Denver Post

article from Friday.

CU must surrender an “enterprise adjustment” of $4.5 million to

switch to enterprise status, which the tuition increase is designed

to cover, according to the Post.

While CSU is likely still at least a year away from being able

to pursue enterprise status, this possible tuition increase shows

what will be the likely trend in higher education: Students are

going to have to foot the bill.

With the arrival of universities’ ability to have more state

independence, colleges will have more flexibility in setting

tuition increases. Universities say this is important because the

state money they have been receiving has declined over the past

several years. So the only way for universities to keep up the

quality of education is to increase tuition, which leaves students

out in the cold.

These tuition increases may not affect some current students too

much, but it will affect their younger siblings’ and possibly their

children’s educations significantly.

Even though money is not growing on Colorado’s trees right now,

maybe we should all try to find a way to start saving some money,

because that rainy day is steadily approaching.