EDITORIAL
University requires help from lawmakers

David McClain, interim University of Hawai'i president, had two audiences in mind when he warned this week of substantial new tuition increases.

The first audience is students and their parents. It's only fair that families get as much of a heads-up as possible. College education is a major financial undertaking.

The other audience is the state Legislature. Our lawmakers have had a hard time buying in to the proposition that investment of tax revenues in the university pays off. These lawmakers often say the university acts as the engine for the state's economy, but they resist hopping aboard.

McClain proposes bringing UH tuition up to the national average by the end of the decade. That's still a pretty good deal, but it's a lot more than Hawai'i families are used to paying.

McClain pointedly told lawmakers that tuition would rise more slowly if they would add up to $40 million to the university's operating budget for each year of the new biennium.

State financial support for UH has slipped to about 45 percent of the UH budget, from 50 percent as recently as 1989. We urge lawmakers to turn that around promptly.