The Illinois Board of Higher Education has created a committee on the affordability of higher education in Illinois.

This committee couldn’t have been created sooner as students have seen their tuition rates rapidly increasing with no apparent end in sight.

As tuition has risen, students have become more dependent on financial aid, and many will graduate $10,000 or more in debt.

The reasons for the out-of-control tuition increases over the last 10 years are many, but the largest reason has been the state’s failure to keep its funding of higher education in sync with inflation.

However, the sad truth is that the universities have not been reluctant to stick it to the students. In fact, students in Illinois have been hit with so many tuition increases that some public universities have more funds in real dollars now then they did in 10 years ago.

Hopefully, the committee will recognize the rising cost of public higher education in this state soon will greatly hinder the accessibility of the entire system.

The burden of funding higher education has shifted to the students and financial aid in the last 10 years, the state now must take some of this responsibility back.

The universities themselves, however, have a responsibility of their own. Instead of simply always looking for new funds, universities need to spend more responsibly and be more sensitive to the needs and financial limitations of the students.

Thus far they have not.