Now, they need to continue to raise their voices so the public and the Legislature can better understand what the public investment in higher education pays for.

Students reminded us on Tuesday that institutions such as SMSU and Minnesota West are educating our future teachers, doctors, electricians and yes, even professors.

We heard from students who live in southwest Minnesota who want to stay in southwest Minnesota when they graduate from college, only they are worried the debt they've accumulated won't allow them to stay. The available jobs may not pay enough for them to pay their debt.

A student from Woodbury told us he came to SMSU because he wanted a sense of community, he wanted more personal connections with his professors and students. He likes SMSU and he likes Marshall.

The dollars invested in higher education help to encourage students to be engaged in their communities. Students shared how they participate in community activities or in campus events and organizations.

If those students stay in southwest Minnesota, these will be the members of your city council, the volunteers in your school or the folks who organize the fundraiser for church.

But we are saddling our students with too much debt. The majority of these students work - whether it's a summer job, a weekend job, on campus or off, they work. Some work 20 to 40 hours a week during school. All trying to earn money to reduce the cost of college.

Add to that the parents of many of these students who are making sacrifices to help with tuition or books or some living expenses.

Students who talked to the newspaper Tuesday weren't asking for no college debt, just more affordable tuition. In fact, some expect a tuition increase and hoped it could stay at 2 percent.

The students must tell their stories again and again to get the public and the Legislature to understand if we can make it more affordable for Jill Doe of Russell to attend college in Minnesota, Doe will find it easier to stay in college, earn her degree, get a job and live and pay taxes in Minnesota.

Better yet, if Jill Doe wants to remain in southwest Minnesota, she'd have a better chance.

The structure of our school system

A budget crisis is a good time to seriously review the structure of higher education in Minnesota.

We have a system that often pits campuses against each other in terms of recruiting students and adding programs. We have campuses with enrollments of roughly 10,000 and those with 4,000 to 5,000.

If the state is really concerned about the quality of education, these question should be asked: Are 9,000 students on the campus of St. Cloud State University really served as well as 6,000 could be? Are 10,000 students flourishing in the environment at Minnesota State Mankato?

Can we learn something from Wisconsin or Colorado on how better to structure our state school system?

The state also needs to take a serious look at the University of Minnesota. Make a commitment to agriculture research where the actual agriculture is being produced.

And where is the meaty discussion on how the state can invest in programs that mean our higher education institutions, including those in rural Minnesota, are leaders in renewable energy research and development?

We won't pretend that reducing tuition costs and bettering our higher education institutions may not require money, say an increase in taxes, but we need to spend some serious time in 2009 talking about serious efforts to do so.

These are some tough times economically, but a bit of financial discomfort in 2010 and 2011 will put us in a much more comfortable position in 2012 and beyond.