Evaluate education costs

Argus Leader (Sioux Falls): Some would argue the cost of a college education is priceless.

But when tuition goes up each year — 6.5 percent for the upcoming year at South Dakota’s state-supported universities — it’s hard to appreciate the price, especially if you are paying the bills.

University budgeting is undoubtedly a complicated process, made even more difficult by shrinking state support in the past and a smaller pool of high school graduates in South Dakota. However, students have faced tuition bumps in each of the past eight years, increases that ranged from 4.6 percent to 10.4 percent. Those are some pretty stunning numbers.

Constantly raising tuition cannot be the only solution. The Board of Regents needs to make sure it is doing all it can to cut costs and inform students and the public what they have done and why more money is needed. There have been some efforts, certainly, including eliminating some programs, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed the tuition hike much.

The issue is significant at a time when federal loan rates are threatened by a potential hike and the nation continues to pull out of dampened economic times.

The Board of Regents last fall did take one step toward saving students money over the life of their college work by decreasing the number of credits needed from 128 to 120. The question remains, is there more that can be done?

It will take some critical thinking to come up with the right formula.