For most Iowans, $6.5 million is an awful lot of money. Everyone would like to see their income go up by $6.5 million in a year.

Iowa’s community college system is due to get that much more in aid as a result of action by the state Legislature. But it is important to note that the $6.5 million is going to the entire community college system. That money will be split between 15 schools that are educating tens of thousands of students while dealing with the worst inflation the country has seen in decades.

When that aid amount is split up between the all schools, it suddenly isn’t such a big figure. For example, Iowa Central Community College will get about $380,000 in new money.

Iowa Central Community College, and all the other schools, will be getting a fraction of the new money that they really need to operate and invest in programs needed to train the workforce of the future. The new money doesn’t even cover half of the inflationary cost increases that the colleges are experiencing.

With limited state aid, community colleges have really only one option to generate the funding that they need: tuition. We think more tuition increases are a bad idea. Such increases will saddle students with more loan debt, or in the worst case scenario, create a barrier that keeps people from pursuing a college education. Community colleges shouldn’t have to balance their budgets on the backs of students who don’t need any more loan debt.

Remember that community college graduates tend to stay in Iowa. They are the people who run our factories, take care of us in the hospital and do countless other things to keep Iowa communities thriving. Forcing them to shoulder more debt is a lousy idea.

While any increase in funding is a good thing, we call on lawmakers to do better for community colleges next year. We especially ask state Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, to use his influence to convince fellow lawmakers of the need for more support for the institutions that are so critical to our state’s education system and economy. He is in a unique position to do so because he represents the community where Iowa Central is based and he is also the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which handles spending bills.

The Legislature did some good things for community colleges this year. It funded workforce training and a financial aid program called the Last Dollar Scholarship. Part-time students were made eligible for the Last Dollar Scholarship. And the colleges were given more flexibility in hiring college and career transition counselors.

However, we remain convinced that the lawmakers can do better on the big ticket item of basic state aid. We look forward to seeing more robust support for Iowa’s community colleges next year at this time.