While alumni swarmed the University of Arizona campus this weekend, enjoying the football game and Homecoming parade, many current UA students were working hard in order to pay for their education. How many of those alumni, I wondered, would have graduated, had they not benefited from financial aid? How many were left behind because they were short on cash, but just missed the cutoff for financial support?

The Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday that more than 50 percent of the money generated from this fall's record-setting $1,000 tuition hike will go directly to the financial aid fund. With enrollment soaring and state budget cuts looming, the Arizona Board of Regents is likely to increase tuition rates again this spring, albeit less drastically. The extra money is making the dream of attending college a reality for those who might not otherwise have been able to afford it.

But while some students have benefited from the need-based waivers, grants and scholarships, others who miss the financial aid cutoff are struggling to make ends meet. For these students, the tuition hike is a burden, not a godsend.

Students who fail to qualify for aid often end up working full-time, compromising their schoolwork because they are worrying about paying their bills. After figuring in the cost of required books, housing and food, the price of college can become too great. The price of tuition then plays a role in the decision to graduate or drop out of school. Therefore, the increase in financial aid is useless if it forces current students to withdraw before graduation.

"We already know that the number one reason people drop out of college is because of financial problems, not academic ones," said Juliet Garcia, president of the University of Texas-Brownsville, in a San Antonio-Express article. At UT Brownsville, she said, "Many people don't realize our students have some contribution to make at home, whether it's money for transportation or child care." In Arizona, similar concerns threaten students' chance of graduating.

Currently, the freshman retention rate at the UA is 76 percent, well below the national average. So if financial constraints are causing this problem, then theoretically, the freshman retention rate this year should exceed last year's rate. Next fall, a crucial measure of the effectiveness of the increased financial aid will be the percentage of students who return for their sophomore year.

Four students are suing the state on the grounds that this fall's tuition increase contradicts a clause in the Arizona constitution that mandates that higher education be provided "as nearly free as possible." Opponents of the lawsuit have argued that lowering tuition (and therefore the amount of financial aid available) would harm students who rely upon funding such as Pell Grants.

Yet higher tuition becomes a problem for everyone, not just those who are especially needy. Next year's tuition should try to strike a delicate balance between drawing in new students and retaining undergraduates. In order to do this, the next increase should be less than $500.

The Arizona Constitution mandates that education should be "as nearly free as possible." But the current tuition increases have polarized the student body. There are those who can afford school, and those who cannot. The best way to achieve the goal of increased enrollment is to create a financial aid package that encompasses the broadest spectrum of student needs. Aid should still be given to especially needy students, but the tuition increase should not be large enough to push those "on the border" over the edge.

Tuition increases are only helpful if a proportionate amount is funneled back into financial aid. Otherwise, the higher price has the opposite effect than was intended - it decreases the likelihood that more students will graduate from college.

Jennifer Kursman is a biochemistry freshman. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.