Right now, the Board of Governors has a chance to bump our tuition, a chance we might not have down the road.

Let’s take it.

True, the 7 percent budget cut to state appropriations in higher education almost looks lucrative when compared to University President Bruce Speck’s earlier predictions of a 15 to 20 percent cut. But just because the situation has improved doesn’t mean we won’t take a hit during the next fiscal year. It also doesn’t mean a large tuition increase is necessarily the best answer.  

A slight increase won’t hurt, though. Southern is still on the cheap end of getting an undergraduate degree in Missouri.

School administrative officials have spoken several times of the political reasons behind keeping tuition low. Gov. Jay Nixon has consistently made affordable higher education a goal since he took office. We get that, and we appreciate it.

But Southern will always be one of the state’s most affordable options.

We haven’t raised tuition for a few years now. We’ve stayed within Nixon’s bounds, and we’ve lost a few programs along the way.

But the University of Missouri system’s curators approved a 5.5 percent tuition increase.

Nixon doesn’t have to let us off the leash, but it would be nice if he loosened it just a little.

Apply for the waiver while we still have time.