Bills, Bills, Bills. A former #1 hit by Destiny’s Child, and also the thing crippling students as they leave college. According to The Project on Student Debt, nearly 70% of college seniors who graduated in 2013 had debt and owed, on average, $28,000. The average debt was up a full two percent from seniors who had graduated in 2012. Minnesota is ranked fifth in average debt owed after leaving college, with students owing nearly $31,000.

Over the last five years, there has been a 4.5% increase in tuition and 3% increase in fees here at Hamline. With the increase in cost here at Hamline, it is projected that over four years, a student here at Hamline would be paying just under $157,000 for their education. Even with scholarships, assuming an average of $21,000 a year for four years totaling $84,000, Hamline students would on average be graduating with $73,000 worth of college costs to pay for in some way.

This is a lot of money for Hamline students, or really any college students in general, to be paying for a college education. The basics of supply and demand stipulate that when the price of something is increased, eventually the price becomes too much and the product is no longer worth purchasing. This idea is currently being played out in America’s college system, where colleges seem to be trying to find just how much hard-working American teens and young adults are willing to pay to get higher education. Not all colleges have been increasing costs, though.

Last year, Concordia University-St. Paul dramatically dropped its prices a full ten grand from $29,700 to $19,700, and the result was CUSP’s highest-ever undergraduate count, at 1,344 undergraduate students. Despite a $550 dollar increase in tuition this year, Concordia recorded a new high of 1,386 undergraduate students. According to the Star Tribune, “When the school cut tuition, it also reduced the amount of financial aid it handed out. In the end, Concordia had a lot more students paying tuition, even at somewhat lower rates.”

Concordia-St. Paul isn’t the only one to have taken action on college costs. Governor Mark Dayton signed a 2013 bill into law that froze tuition costs at all schools involved in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) for two years.

Some students believe that Hamline should consider a tuition cut. As the results from Concordia show, the benefit of cutting tuition costs would likely draw in more students, and with more students paying for school here, scholarships wouldn’t have to be given to as many students because Hamline would be more affordable. Fewer students would have to worry about paying, and Hamline would be able to put more money into buildings and other improvements, making Hamline even more attractive to potential students.