Penn State, in concurrence with other Big Ten universities, has started to pay its professors more money.

The amount of money professors earn depends on the college for which they work; those who work in the Smeal College of Business get paid more than those who work in the College of Arts and Architecture, sometimes by as much as $70,000.

Paying more money to retain the best and brightest faculty seems like a small price when one considers the merits of a good education. And a good education requires renowned faculty.

Renowned faculty members aren't going to stick around if their pay isn't comparable to other schools.

If higher salaries are needed to maintain Penn State's name, then so be it.

Once a university gets a reputation for poor-quality programs, which are a reflection of the faculty, a university becomes unable to attract the best and brightest of students.

This also affects the quality of faculty members the university is able to hire.

Who wants to work for a university that is not held in high regards by the academic community?

Once a reputation of ill repute begins, the vicious cycle is hard to stymie. But it seems more pay will help to maintain Penn State's name.

With the addition of a new forensic science major, for example, Penn State will most likely have to offer extremely competitive pay to attract professors from other universities that already have such a program. For the program to become lucrative and to gain reputable attention from would-be students, it's going to have to quickly build it's repertoire of professors. And fast.

Let's face it -- the quality of the institution starts with the quality of the teaching staff. And healthy competition between universities is good as long as it will help promote the production of a quality product -- an education worth every penny of our tuition.

However, it is imperative that the university refrain from embarking upon a salary-arms race in the manner of "we'll see Ohio State's 4 percent increase and raise it 3 more percent."

In all likelihood, our professors could be traveling around the world, conducting research or working at extremely profitable businesses in the city.

Instead, they choose to teach college students who often profess to know everything they'll need to know for the rest of their lives.

It is incumbent upon the university to make it worthwhile for professors in all colleges to impart their knowledge with us so we can function in the real world one day, too.