The sun isn’t the only thing burning students at NIU.

NIU undergraduate students taking more than 12 hours in the fall semester can expect a 21 percent tuition hike, which is about $378 for a full-time, 15-hour undergraduate student.

The worst part of the hike is that the administration bureaucracy tried to mask it. A press release distributed to media tried to disguise the hike as a 10 percent increase, but in all reality, it’s not. Students need about 124 hours to graduate and they must take 15 hours per semester to graduate on time. If they take 15 hours, their tuition increase works out to 21 percent.

And where is the money from the increase going? NIU President John La Tourette has been avoiding giving answers to exactly where some of the money is going. He said 72 percent of the increase will go to the university, but that he could not break down exactly where the money would go.

It’s funny how tuition increases are approved at meetings when students are not around. This time was no exception. The Board of Regents approved the increase at its May 21 meeting, when no students were around to object to it.

A tuition increase was needed considering the state of the budget. But if the students are going to pay and pay and pay, they should reap the benefits. More sections of classes would be a good start.

It seems the administration has forgotten what the university is here for—students.