Today at 9 a.m. at the Old Main flagpole, buses are picking up angry and frustrated students and escorting them to the Arizona State Capitol. Student leaders are ditching campus for Phoenix to attend the "Failing our Future" rally, put together by the Arizona Students' Association.

It's about damn time.

Budget cuts, low teacher salaries, the brain drain, tuition rates and more budget cuts have become the norm of the UA for the last few years - and enough is enough. The welfare of Arizona universities must be made as high a priority as K-12 education, which Gov. Jane Dee Hull has traditionally protected from excessive cuts.

It is time to pound on Hull's door and demand to know why higher education is such a low priority. The population of Arizona is expected to grow from about 5 million to more than 8 million by 2020, and student lobbyists want to know exactly how the state plans to cope with the influx of university students.

Thankfully, student leaders are recognizing this need. Ray Quintero, president of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, noted in yesterday's Wildcat, "The state legislators are failing the state universities and the state in general. Right now, we feel like (the universities) are the last priority of the state."

The future of Arizona's universities is up to the students of today. It is hoped the rally will convince legislators that higher education is "an economic engine for the state" and shouldn't be hit any harder by future budget cuts.

While this state is not-so-slowly becoming a haven for snowbirds and a valuable retirement community, the population must not let higher education fall through the fingers of apathetic legislators.

Hull should be praised for holding K-12 dear to her heart. But Arizonans cannot place the welfare of the state on the shoulders of high school graduates. Arizona's intellectual, financial and social integrity depends not only on students with college and graduate school degrees but also on university-level faculty and staff.

If UA graduates are expected to use their degrees to give back to the state, then shouldn't the state give a little funding their educations?

Higher education should not be an afterthought. Good luck to all the students attending the rally.

Staff editorials are the collaborative stance of the Arizona Daily Wildcat's opinions board.