You get what you pay for ÷ or at least you should.

But if the Arizona Board of Regents passes either President Pete Likins' or the student lobbyists' tuition plan tomorrow, which both allocate more than half of the proposed increase to financial aid, that's not going to happen.

Students won't get what they pay for. They will not see an improvement in the quality of their education. That is, there won't be better class availability and professors still won't be able to photocopy enough syllabi.

We've got to improve the quality of our already-mediocre educational experience before we focus on making it more accessible.

Worst of all, UA still won't have the funding to keep our most prized professors from becoming casualties of "brain drain."

The percentage of the money allocated to education is not enough to help out departments and offset budget cuts.

But most people at UA think that's what the increase is all about.

The university is trying to stay afloat, and Likins and the student lobbyists are more concerned about getting people on the boat than keeping it from sinking.

The student lobbyists' plan raises tuition $900 for in-state students and $1,450 for out-of-state students, giving more than half to financial aid. This plan ignores the UA's current fiscal fiasco by pretending that the major concern is the accessibility of the university to students.

Well, what happens once those students get to campus?

Let's solve problems with a little triage. We've got to improve the quality of our already-mediocre educational experience before we focus on making it more accessible. A tuition increase is inevitable and understandable, but not under the proposed terms. The money raised from the tuition increase should go to bettering the educational experience for the masses.

It's do or die time. Let's take care of the most pressing problem, a waning budget.

Students, parents: Make your stances of tuition heard.

Professors, department heads: Force administrators and regents to see the financial problems your units are facing.

Regents: Vote this week for a moderate tuition increase that won't disadvantage middle-class student who don't qualify for financial aid.

Opinions are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Daniel Scarpinato, Jessica Lee, Jose Ceja, Jennifer Duffy, Brett Fera, Erik Flesch, Caitlin Hall, Jessica Suarez and Kendrick Wilson.