Unlike other branches of Hawaii's state government, the University of Hawaii can turn to tuition instead of taxes to cope with the recession. Regents are sensibly focusing on increasing the enrollment of out-of-state students to help pay back what is essentially a two-year loan by faculty when repayment becomes due.

The UH Professional Assembly, the faculty union, ratified a contract last week that includes a 5 percent pay cut over two years. The contract calls for restoration of salaries in the third and fourth years, plus reimbursement for the wage reductions from the first two years. It provides additional pay increases of 3 percent in its fifth and sixth years.

A lengthy recovery from the recession would limit, if not eliminate, any increased tax revenue to be used to meet the contract's terms. Instead, the UH Board of Regents is looking at increased revenue from tuitions.

At this point, the board is looking not at increasing tuition but lifting the informal cap on the number of out-of-state undergraduate students, who pay $18,816 a year for tuition at the Manoa campus, while Hawaii residents pay only $6,768. A memorandum from a regents subcommittee calls for raising the cap on nonresident enrollment from 30 percent to 35 percent of the undergraduate student body.

“;Tuition revenues have become increasingly important during the current fiscal crisis,”; the subcommittee noted in the memo. “;The university must be prepared to maximize every alternative revenue source.”;

The present proposal would not affect resident undergraduate students, and the regents should avoid raising their tuitions or lowering their enrollment if the economic problems persist. Just as tax increases are intolerable during a recession, tuition increases would be a misguided method to balance the university's budget during economic downturns.

UH's present tuitions are middle-grade. The national average at public four-year colleges is $18,548 for nonresidents and $7,020 for residents, according to Economix Research and Consulting. Tuition and fees have risen significantly over the past 30 years, especially at public universities.

Tuition increases are often “;really, really steep”; during times of recession, according to policy analyst Sandy Baum of the College Board, representing schools, colleges, universities and education organizations. That is because state governments, facing budget shortfalls, have reduced spending on higher education — precisely what is happening in Hawaii. In responding to the shortfall, UH regents should tread gently to avoid putting college beyond the pocketbooks of Hawaii students.