Go to college so you can have a great future! our parents tell us. Then we read the newspaper headlines: "UC to turn away 3,200 eligible students." Or "Fewer admissions, (even) higher fees."

Wednesday's headline, "UC applications drop, easing turnaway woes," is a small consolation, and a reflection, I suspect of the frustration so many of us feel. I cannot tell you how hard it is for prospective college students such as myself, who have worked so hard in school, to face the prospect of being turned away by the state's universities because of the budget crisis. And those of us lucky enough to get in will be paying a lot more than our predecessors did. With additional budget cuts expected in the near future, who knows how high those fees are going to rise?

Since 1980, Cal State tuition has increased from $210 to $2,776. For UC, that number has gone from $736 to $6,028. And that's just annual tuition. Those numbers do not take into consideration books, housing or other expenses. If you add that all up, average total undergraduate fees at Cal State campuses are expected to be at about $14,802, while UC costs are expected to be at about $20,000 -- a much higher price than students in other states pay to attend their public schools.

Those hit the hardest are middle-class families with incomes between $60,000 and $90,000, whose access to financial aid is being cut.

There is a huge misconception that all teens use their vast disposable income to shop 'til they drop. Sure, there are teens whose families fit the rich suburban stereotype, but there are a lot more who, along with their families, are really worried about how they're going to pay for school.

We're not asking for a handout. I expect to work during college and am hoping for some sort of scholarship or grant, but I suspect we'll be in the same boat as a lot of other families.

One solution offered is for UC-qualified students affected by enrollment cuts to attend a community college for two years, with the promise of eventual transfer.

I have nothing against community colleges, but that's discouraging for students who have spent years working to meet the admission requirements for a state college or university. Like many of my peers, I have been juggling 20 hours of work a week with studying for AP tests, improving my vocabulary for the "perfect" SAT score and participating in numerous extracurricular activities.

I can't help but wonder: Where is our reward of the chance so many other generations have enjoyed -- to go off to college, leave home, meet new people, become independent and spend four years totally immersed in the college experience?

California has some of the best public schools in the nation, and the caliber of students attending them continues to rise as an increasingly larger pool of applicants competes for spots. At the same time, though, where are all the new schools being built to accommodate the larger number of eligible students?

I feel as though going to a university has become less about learning and more of a business. What happened to the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education that "guaranteed a spot to all eligible students at UC or Cal State?" What happened to the guarantee of financial aid from the government to every family that needs it?

With the rising tuition rates, some students I know have decided not to attend college next fall, because they do not want to put a strain on their families financially.

How can we accept that the government can go into debt to pay for a war with no plausible reason, but it cannot afford to help the next generation pay for an education that could later benefit this country?

I find it ironic that our president is proposing a plan to send men to the moon and Mars with a price tag that is sure to soar into the hundreds of billions, yet we hear no plan about building more schools, or even improving them to meet demand.

After all, we are only "the future."

The Times' Life in Perspective board is made up of local high school journalists who write stories, opinion columns and reviews for TimeOut. Hammad Hammad is a senior at Livermore High School. He can be reached c/o lip@cctimes.com.