Kent State students are currently in the dark about whether state budget cuts will cause a tuition increase in the future.

Though talk about the budget has been ongoing for a while in anticipation of the final announcement, students are still unsure of how it will affect them.

Ohio State University recently announced it wants to raise tuition by 3.3 percent in Fall 2011 to compensate for economic factors and reduced state funding. Ohio State’s in-state tuition for its main campus in Columbus would increase by $315 to a total of $9,309.

The University of Cincinnati’s budget for the next academic year includes a 3.5 percent tuition increase, making tuition $10,419 for an undergraduate Ohio resident – a $354 difference from last year.

While other universities have prepared students for the change in cost for their education, Kent State has yet to announce whether tuition will change for its students.

Because students are trying to make ends meet and pay tuition for an education to potentially better our futures, the university should inform us of changes every step of the way. The university should respect us enough to tell us what they’re planning and how these plans will affect us financially and educationally.

Even if plans aren’t exact because the state budget isn’t in yet, the university could at least inform us about what preparations they’re making to deal with expected budget cuts. If a tuition increase is in the discussion, we need to know about it.

Our education is expensive enough, and we want to be the first to know if that cost will change in the future. It’s the only way we can financially prepare ourselves for the upcoming year.

The least Kent State could do is let us know what might happen once the budget becomes official in the next few days.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Summer Kent Stater editorial board.