Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposals on education defy comprehension.

On the one hand, Schwarzenegger's budget will raise most college and university fees by 10 percent. Community colleges such as College of the Sequoias get it worse: Fees would rise from $18 per credit to $26. Graduate students get the worst -- a 40 percent hike in tuition.

But the governor said he is sticking with the plan to open the University of California, Merced, campus next year.

It's difficult to see what sense it makes to continue building a university whose hopes of opening in 2005 are dubious at best while making it more difficult for existing students to receive an education.

Shouldn't the governor be doing more to maintain what we've got?

Students have been absorbing fee and tuition increases for several years. Community college fees were $11 a credit just two years ago. Next year, they will be $26.

Everybody has to pay their share, but the state is withdrawing support without insisting on economies from the colleges.

It has been pointed out that a public university education is still a bargain compared with public universities in other parts of the country or with private colleges. Tuition at University of California schools is about $6,000 a year, and California State University fees are about $2,800 a year, both of which are considerably less than other universities. Even so, after a series of tuition hikes over the past several years, California is far from the original ideal of offering low-cost higher education to everybody.

Also threatening prospects for students are cuts in programs such as the CalGrant program and the UC outreach program for students at low-performing schools.

The increases will further deter some students from seeking a college education, which hurts California in the long run.

Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger is pushing ahead with the UC Merced campus at the same time.

We're all for generating new opportunities for higher education in the Valley, although we would prefer them here in Tulare County. But the state needs to get its house in order, especially with education, before it embarks on expanding a system that is becoming more expensive every year.

The cost of higher education needs to be addressed in California and throughout the nation, and not just in tuition hikes. The problems include higher costs and less public support.

Meanwhile, higher fees are making it more and more difficult for students.

First things first.

This would be a good time to go slow on expansion and solve the fiscal crisis before continuing with UC Merced.