It used to be common enough for the students of California high schools to half-jokingly ponder their future: Should they join the work force and become productive members of society, or stave off that inevitability by going to college?

As four-year degrees become more common, however, that dynamic has changed. In some ways, college can be viewed as an extension of high school, while graduate school is the new college. Should undergrads join the work force, or put that off by going to graduate school?

All jesting aside, such notions are not too far off the mark for many UCSD graduates. The job market in many fields – particularly technical areas – increasingly expects applicants to have advanced degrees, or at least several years of experience.

At the same time, fees for graduate and professional students at the University of California have risen alongside, or even outpaced, undergraduate fees: 7 percent generally for next year (some professional students suffered 10-percent increases). But previously, undergraduates have been shielded from increases by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who bought out undergraduate fee hikes last year. Graduate and professional students received no such reprieve.

As the state and national economies increasingly demand postcollege education, concerns about affordability and accessibility extend to graduate and professional schools as well. The student piggybank will not pump gold forever, and discouraging less fortunate students from pursuing more education will only hurt the state in the future.