Members of the Kansas Board of Regents, as well as state university officials, make a valid point when they say the tuition increases approved last week, are at least in part, a result of reduced state funding for higher education.

As Regent Dan Lykins noted, “Everything is going up except state funding. The question is who is going to pay for it.”

There is no doubt that state universities have been hurt by state funding cuts. The budget recently signed by Gov. Sam Brownback allocates about $744 million for higher education, which is down from $753 million for the current year and about $100 million below what was allocated three years ago. It would be difficult for state universities to absorb that kind of loss. Public K-12 schools across the state have little choice but to cut their budgets to conform to state funding levels, but universities have the ability to turn to tuition to help make up part of the loss.

However, it seems incumbent on the universities to keep those increases to a minimum during such difficult economic times. In justifying tuition increases, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little continues to refer to the need to provide students with the kind of educational opportunity they want. In such a difficult economy, most people simply don’t get everything they want. It’s a time to hunker down and try to hang on to what you have, but probably not make significant expansions or improvements.

Gray-Little also points out that about $400,000 of the increased revenue for tuition will be added to the $10.3 million in need-based grants for students. That’s a good deal for the students who get the grants, but perhaps not for the students whose tuition money is being given to other students while they struggle to pay their own tuition without the benefit of such grants.

Higher education officials have a legitimate gripe with the Kansas Legislature, and the Board of Regents is smart to look at ways to show state legislators the direct connection between state funding cuts and higher tuition rates. It’s worth considering, however, that legislators might look favorably on university efforts to hold increases in tuition and fees to a minimum during difficult financial times.

Legislators have the power to provide increased funding for higher education, but they may be more likely to do that if they think state universities are doing the best they can to keep higher education affordable for the majority of Kansas students.