It has been four years since the University of Wyoming last raised tuition for undergraduate students. The tuition freeze was in line with the state's constitutional mandate to keep higher education "as free as possible," and was welcomed by UW students and parents.

We've supported UW's efforts to keep undergraduate tuition at the same level, beginning with Gov. Dave Freudenthal's call for such action in 2006.

But times have changed. With lower mineral prices and production today, the state of Wyoming simply can no longer afford to increase its support of our only four-year university each year to cover boosts in operating expenses. It's time for the UW Board of Trustees to consider a modest tuition increase so some of those costs are shifted to all students, including in-state and out-of-state residents.

During its Nov. 19-21 meeting in Laramie, the board will consider three proposals that would raise tuition for both undergraduate and graduate students by 5 percent, 7.5 percent or 9.9 percent, respectively, each year through 2014. However, any tuition increase for 2010-11 would be paid using federal stimulus money, so students wouldn't actually see a difference in their tuition bills until 2011-12. That would give them more time to prepare for the change.

If trustees decide to approve an increase, we recommend that it be at the lower 5 percent level. That would keep tuition more affordable for students who may have trouble dealing with a steeper annual hike.

We're satisfied with UW President Tom Buchanan's explanation that the tuition increase is needed to improve the university's library collection and educational programs. After several years of infrastructure projects being built on the Laramie campus, he noted that UW's current top priority is to bolster the UW library's collection of books, academic journals and scientific literature, which has been placed on the back burner for too many years.

"I think we didn't keep up with our library needs," the president said, "and now we're having to make up some lost ground." It deserves to be a priority if UW is going to maintain quality library resources.

Buchanan also noted the tuition increase would help improve UW academic programs in several ways, including replacing decades-old laboratory microscopes and allowing the UW Cooperative Extension Service personnel to travel to ranching communities throughout the state.

The good news is that even with a 5 percent increase during each of the next four years, UW would still rank among the most affordable universities in the country. For the current school year, tuition for in-state undergraduates was $2,820, while in-state graduate students paid $3,294. According to collegeboard.com, the average cost of tuition at a public four-year university this year was $7,020.

If trustees improve a tuition hike, the Wyoming Legislature will have to look at the impact such a move might have on the Hathaway Scholarship program, which has been credited with boosting UW enrollment. If lawmakers decide the fund isn't healthy enough to pick up the increased tuition, it would mean that the upper tier of students who qualify for Hathaway scholarships would for the first time earn less than the total tuition amount. That would be unfortunate, and serves as another reason to limit the tuition increase to only 5 percent.