Kansas students may think their higher costs are unique, but they’re not.

A recent study indicated that a larger percentage of American young people are more ready for introduction to college life than their predecessors. In other words, many of they are educationally and socially more mature and capable of assimilating what they find after high school.

At least that’s what we’re told, although some teachers might disagree about the academic preparation of some of their charges.

But for all their exposures and background in today’s complex world, are students ready to face some of the harsh facts of life, such as the rising costs of higher education?

At various times of late, there have been meetings, demonstrations and protests at various schools such as Kansas University because fees and tuition costs have had to be increased. As each public airing occurs, one is inclined to think the school in question is the only place where such impositions are being made.

Yet if protesters at Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Nebraska will just look around, they will note that regents and other governing bodies at schools all across the nation have been forced to raise tuition and fees. The state of Kansas is having serious budget shortfalls, government units at all levels are having to lay off people and meet tough new budget requirements, public schools are in a similar bind and many businesses and industries and their employees have been suffering.

Welcome to the real world, students! You go, you pay whatever is necessary to try to keep things in the black.

Students, particularly those at schools such as KU and KSU, have had educational bargains for so long that they and their financiers have become spoiled. The feeling seems to be that the goose of Kansas education will keep laying golden eggs forever without much care and feeding.

The party is over. Educational institutions have had to tighten their belts and pull in their horns with everyone else. When outgo exceeds income, income has to be increased. That means more tuition and fees and rising ancillary costs. Since colleges are designed for students, the students, or whoever is paying their bills, are going to feel the pinch along with everyone else. The customers have to pay the prices.

Students and parents should be well-informed about how their money is spent. At the same time, facts are facts, and the facts are that higher education costs have risen and probably will continue to do so for some time.

One has to sympathize with anyone trying to pay for a college education these days. For many, financing advanced schooling never has been easy, and that chore is getting harder all the time.

But for anyone to indicate that students at a particular school are shouldering an unfair burden is ridiculous. Everyone is paying more for college experiences. Nobody has any corner on fee hikes, or trying to hold the line on costs ” especially as long as the local, state and national economies continue the way they’ve been going.