The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has the fourth largest budget in the nation, yet it ranks 47th in its funding for higher education.

Last night, about 20 concerned students gathered in 117 Osmond Laboratory to discuss the rising tuition costs with state Rep.Lynn Herman, R-Centre. Herman has been a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since 1983, is chairman of the House Local Government Committee and has served his 12th consecutive term on the Education Committee.

He also created the Penn State Forum in 1990, which is a group designed to advance the interests of Penn State and higher education throughout the state.

"College students need to get more active and involved with their state and federal governments," Herman said. "Let your elected official know how important a quality, affordable higher education is to Pennsylvania's youth and our state's future."

After a brief opening statement, Herman opened up the forum to questions from the audience.

Jack O'Donnell (junior-psychology) asked Herman why his parents have to pay almost 60 percent more for tuition and other charges than when he first started school.

Herman explained that the recession and decrease in state appropriations as well as the increase in new facilities are the main causes for such a rise.

"When we are in deficit and money is running low in the budget, the state can take back money they set aside for schools," he said. "Penn State is state affiliated, and unlike state schools, the state doesn't have to promise any money to the school."

Liesel Spangler (junior-international relations) said a lot of Penn State's tuition is given to the economy, and wondered why the state gives so little back to the university.

"The state does need to give back more. The university does more to power the state's economy than anything else within the commonwealth," Herman said. "We are currently working on programs to invest in research and higher education institutions and capitalize on it."

Alex Smith (junior-political science), co-chairman of the Political Science Association and organizer of the event, said he would have liked to see more students attending, but was pleased with the outcome.

"Representative Herman was very helpful, and the things we discussed were critical to students" he said. "We are hopeful to work with him in the future."

State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte and state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre were invited to attend, but were unable to because of schedule conflicts.