The brief Jan. 11 Board of Regents meeting set Twitter feeds on fire because the Student Union will be renamed. However, one very important bit of information fell by the wayside: the potential budget cut of up to 7 percent that NKU could face in the next fiscal year.

NKU draws most of its funding from the state, and with the state facing continued budget struggles, cuts to higher education are set to continue. We students need to do what we can to protect ourselves and one another from the negative effects of a possibly hefty increase.

Students will need to brace themselves — and their bank accounts — for the raise in tuition. With lowered funds from the state, students will inevitably have to shell out more money. This may seem like a never-ending complaint; it’s one that is issued every year.

But how much longer will NKU be an affordable option for students who can’t handle the cost of institutions like University of Cincinnati or Xavier University? The move to Division I brings additional costs of its own — and they will need to be covered somehow.

With these tuition and budget woes come a ripple effect that many don’t seem to consider. Students who want to come here could find themselves knocking on NKU’s front door, only to be denied access. They could end up at a lower-quality institution, or worse, not attending college at all.
While these complaints could be seen as generalizable to all universities, or as a nationwide trend, the impact is much worse when it hits home. The people that will be hurt by the cuts the most are minorities and the ones who fall in the in-between areas.

The in-betweeners are the students who can’t claim an income low enough to register for grants, and also can’t qualify for need-based scholarships, so they’re completely reliant on loan money, racking up an insane amount of debt even if they graduate in the ideal four years.
So, what do we do with all of this? Fight back. Talk to your state representative about how important affordable higher education is. And for the university. Are there areas we can cut from that don’t raise tuition for students? Maybe cut administrative positions — instead of academics.