Times are tough ÷ classes are being cut, students are being forced to postpone their graduations due to overcrowded classes and we've even lost a Nobel Prize-winning professor.

We need to raise tuition and financial aid.

The university and the state are struggling through hard financial times. The state cut the UA budget by nearly $17 million last year and is poised to do it again this year. These cuts primarily affect the UA's general fund, which pays for programs like the humanities that attract few private dollars.

These lost dollars must be replaced if the UA is to cork the faculty brain drain, keep valuable programs afloat and make enough classes available to students.

The reality is that the best thing for the Arizona Board of Regents to do for UA students of all income levels is to raise tuition and financial aid.

How high should tuition be raised? High ÷ by Arizona standards, anyway. Right now, administrators say they are examining several models to see how they would affect students' pocketbooks. And they're right in doing so, because qualified students' financial capabilities should not be ignored in the process of raising tuition.

President Pete Likins is lobbying for an increase, and has said repeatedly that, if done his way, it would most definitely be coupled with a serious increase in financial aid.

As the Arizona Constitution dictates, tuition should be as nearly free as possible ÷ because good value is a virtue in any product. Now, though, tuition is so cheap that it is becoming impossible to run a quality university.

While the UA should not bear an inflated price tag, increasing in-state tuition considerably from its present low level, rather than banking on unreliable state money, is completely prudent and would not place an unreasonable burden on students and their families.

And at the moment, it appears the regents are wisening up.