Anytime more funding flows into the state, the responsible officials deserve to be commended. As the state’s budget continues to be cut, every little bit helps.

Gov. Steve Beshear recently announced more than $14 million in federal funding will go to Kentucky high schools and universities. The portion of the funding that deals with higher education will be distributed by the National Science Foundation, providing $12.5 million to research in biotechnology, nanotechnology and cyber-technology. It will be distributed over five years to eight state universities. The majority of the funds will go to UK and the University of Louisville, with $5 million being matched by the state during the full duration of the grant.

However, for these particular grants, eight schools split $12.5 million. UK will most likely get the largest portion, but its effect is minimal on the larger problems we have. The state of Kentucky needs an educational bailout.

The designated programs will benefit from the grants, but as a whole, the widespread university needs help beyond these specialized resources. Priority in UK’s plans for research and spending on the graduate level is high, but resources and facilities severely lack in several areas on the undergraduate level.

Part of our Top 20 Business Plan that gets lost is to increase our total amount of endowments. UK is successfully accomplishing that, which should help with tuition and scholarships, but the state budget has cut state funding to all universities.

Obviously the budget crisis affects more than UK, but it is time for our state government to start looking into ways to generate new revenue and cut spending where available. Students are the future leaders of this state and nation, and education should not be where budget shortfalls manifest themselves.

It is unrealistic to make education accessible to everyone, but the students that are in school should not have to stress over tuition, books and the other typical expenses college students have. It is one thing to work to have a bigger apartment or extra spending money. It is another thing to work solely to put oneself through college, while also managing a full course load. That kind of work often puts students working well over the average 40 hours a week. A student’s will to work is admirable, and at some point the state and the university should recognize that.

Rising tuition and shrinking funds for programs like KEES are also an area of concern for education. For most students, costs and available resources are the main concern for securing the advantages of higher education. Complex budget issues that most students either don’t understand or care about have made graduation more difficult than it should be. With increasingly competitive scholarships, strict government standards for income-based grants, stagnant federal loan limits and rising tuition costs nationwide, earning a degree has become a financial burden that follows students long after leaving the academic institutions.

When federal aid falls through, scholarships don’t come in and loans aren’t enough, what is there to do? Private loans require credit history, which most students either don’t have, or in youthful exuberance, have damaged to not be able to bear the high requirements for these private loans. It is a shame that students with the grades and the test scores do not go to college because of cost. How much of America’s potential lies within these individuals who lack the means to go to school?

We need promote advanced educational programs and invest in science and research. The Kernel reported on Oct. 29 that students are turning to stripping, selling plasma and nude modeling to help with the financial blows. With regular students in school using their bodies to pay bills, more effort must be put into a widespread increase in federal aid for students. It’s time the government thinks about an educational bailout.