The following editorial appeared Saturday in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

The leaders of Washington state’s universities and colleges made a plea to legislators in Olympia last week to seek more money for higher education.

The united effort, which centered on how important a first-class higher-education system is to the economic and social success of the state, makes a lot of sense.

Higher education, including the community-college system, hasn’t received the financial attention it deserves the past few years because the money simply wasn’t available. As Washington’s economy slowed, so did its tax revenue.

The economy has turned around, and lawmakers are now looking at a surplus. Gov. Chris Gregoire has wisely urged lawmakers to bank most of the cash, but a few million dollars will be up for grabs.

Yes, more money should be spent on universities and community colleges. But lawmakers should attach a few strings.

Tuition has been on the rise at all of the schools. Lawmakers gave university officials the OK to set tuition rates. We fear that the ever-increasing tuition will price a lot of families, including those with middle-class incomes, out of a college education.

The reason our society subsidizes higher education is so that everybody – regardless of means – will have opportunities. If the state doesn’t keep college affordable, fewer and fewer people will have opportunities to enrich their lives and, ultimately, the state will suffer.

So, as lawmakers ponder putting more cash into higher education, they must insist tuition increases be kept to a minimum and they should consider setting limits on those increases. In addition, they should make more money for grants and loans available for cash-strapped families.