Increasing tuition is a reality for many students, and it was a topic of discussion between legislators and students Thursday at Riverland Community College in Austin.

Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia and chairman of the House higher education committee, was joined by three other legislators to discuss the money side of education — a day after the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system announced a 5 percent tuition hike for fall that will be lessened to 3 percent temporarily by federal stimulus dollars.

Rukavina, flanked by Rep. Jeanne Poppe and Sen. Dan Sparks, both DFL-Austin, as well as Rep. David Bly, DFL-Northfield, said the state can’t keep putting the burden on students.

“Every person who wants to go on and get an education should be able to do that,” the representative said. “We can’t keep doing this.”

Juan Perales, a 2008 Riverland alumnus, said he’s working two part-time jobs and serving as a tutor right now to pay off nearly $13,000 in student debt. He said he hopes to eventually save enough to go to a four-year school.

Perales said he attended Thursday to hear what lawmakers had to say and have his opinion heard.

He asked Rukavina what the main factor was in rising tuition, to which the representative said funding cuts.

MnSCU alone has had $70 million cut through unallotments by Gov. Tim Pawlenty — $20 million late last year and another $50 million in June.

With another unallotment largely possible at the end of 2009, Rukavina said students might continue to feel the brunt of reductions to higher education.

“It’s going to be bad out there in the future,” he said, noting that federal stimulus relief directed toward higher education in Minnesota is only temporary.

Danyel Helgeson, director of Riverland’s nursing program, said she has seen firsthand the skyrocketing tuition costs.

She said she was in the program a few years ago paying $5,000 per year. Now, her students are paying between $14,000 and $17,000 for their educations.

Rep. Rukavina said the state needs to focus more on supporting educations. He said the portion of the state’s budget dedicated to higher education has decreased in recent years.

Poppe added that her generation benefited greatly as students because the philosophy then was more supportive of higher education.

Solutions, of course, are the challenging part. Members of the panel generally agreed that spending cuts aren’t the whole solution and that the governor’s “no new taxes” pledge is unrealistic.

“It’s not just a spending problem,” Rep. Rukavina said. “It’s a revenue problem.”

Rep. Poppe added that cutting administrative costs in the MnSCU system — rather than losing educators or drastically raising tuition — would be the best way to go.

The Austin representative said despite cuts, colleges and universities are still very important priorities to many in the state.

“Minnesota is still an education leader,” Rep. Poppe said.