In the past two years there has been a fluctuation in the money coming in and going out of Penn State.

Adjusting for inflation, tuition will continue to go up. But in the past two years, the state has cut funding to the university by $50 million.

It's no surprise that tuition continues to go up as a result of these cuts, combined with the rate of inflation.

Student's economic woes may be answered in the form of a proposed federal bill that could withhold federal aid to colleges and universities raising tuition more than twice the rate of inflation.

The federal government taking notice of tuition concerns is definitely a good thing, but the answer may not lie in cutting federal funding to state schools that are trying to remain competitive with private universities.

As a public university, the goal may be to keep costs low, but we still need to keep the quality of education high, and continued tuition increases may be the only way to do this.

Students certainly do not appreciate tuition hikes. But with the bad economy and Penn State receiving less money from the state each year, increasing tuition seems to be the only way to ensure that the quality of a Penn State education remains high and that the university continues to attract a competitive faculty.

Penn State has looked to private corporations, such as MBNA, to improve its fitness and career services facilities. While efforts such as these help students, the university has to be wary of solutions that may require Penn State to consider not only student interests, but those of corporations as well.

Penn State should find creative ways to cut costs and find alternative solutions to raising tuition. One example of this is the Tuition Task Force that reorganized the budget to save the university money.

In the end, both the state and federal government need to take the initiative to try to find innovative ways to offer more funding for education, instead of punishing universities through decreased funding. If the government does not, many young people will not be able to afford going to college. In this time it is necessary to have a college education in order to be marketable in the business world.