Amidst hefty tuition hikes, I suppose the trend will continue - kids selling cars, trucks and their firstborn all to pay for a college education. Or, more often, they just drop out. The past 10 years the percentage of Utahns age 25-34 with bachelor's degrees fell from 41 to 26 percent.

Recently at my school, Utah State University, outgoing President Kermit Hall proposed a 43 percent tuition increase over a three-year period. Many were understandably upset. But at least he was up-front with us.

At Southern Utah University, where my younger sister attends, in the past five years tuition increased 73 percent. During that same period at Utah Valley State College, where my older brother attends, tuition rose 76 percent.

Imagine if my parents had to pay for all of that!

And that's not all. As tuition skyrockets, Pell grants are being cut by the federal government. To compensate, Utah offers little to no financial aid to their students. Other states do. And they offer a lot. We always justified that with the lower tuition we were charged. But 43, 73 or 76 percent later, that argument falls short. The few who do enroll usually take on enormous amounts of debt at higher interest rates than ever before.

Several years ago, tuition increases were understandable. Our economy was in recession and cuts had to be made. But now that our state posts a record surplus, higher education continues to be ignored and tuition keeps increasing.

But the problem is consistently downplayed by the state Legislature. Instead, they are focused on granting the largest tax cut in Utah history just a few weeks before many of them face re-election. And it all comes at the expense of education.

Gov. Jon Huntsman wants at least a $70 million tax cut. The Legislature wants $120 million, if not more. Because of such cuts, they argue the economy will boom, and then with additional taxes, lawmakers can focus on education.

I want to believe tax cuts will eventually "trickle down" into education, but I have my doubts. Our economy is already booming (with the highest surplus in state history), and yet we see consistent declines in financial support from the state toward education. Why should we believe that will suddenly change with another boom in the economy?

And imagine the worst-case scenario. Suppose the economy does take a turn for the worse, despite our tax cuts. Education, underfunded to begin with, will have to make even more sacrifices unless a tax increase is proposed. And tax increases in times of recession are a tough sell. Just ask former Gov. Norm Bangerter.

At USU, when President Hall pitched the tuition increase to students, he titled his presentation, "We are on our own." University endowments are insufficient to help us, most parents cannot afford to help us, and the Legislature refuses to help us.

We are on our own.

None of us wants a handout. At the University of Utah, for example, at least 80 percent of students currently work while going to school. Other schools share similar numbers. Across the state, many students even try working full time while going to school. Some students have young families but cannot afford health insurance. Others have different trials.

Is it any wonder so few of our young people go to college?

I don't know what happened to my friend and his "Need $$$ For School" sign. But at the rate things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see him drop school and keep the truck. Who needs a degree anyway, especially when you can make the average college dropout's $22,000-a-year salary?

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Jon Cox is a senior communications major at Utah State University.