I strongly disagree with syndicated columnist Rich Lowry’s July 2, column on Sen. John Kerry’s misery index. In Maine, Kerry is right on the mark when he states that rising tuition often means that students have to drop out and others cannot afford to come.

Compared to other states, we have fewer students attending and graduating from college. The cost is one of the major impediments cited over and over again for this problem.

As the parent of a recent college graduate and a current college junior, I can attest to rising tuition costs. In the past six years, tuition costs have risen every year. Several of my sons’ high school classmates have dropped out of college to earn some money.

Lowry claims that “it is positively raining college aid.” Aid is the key word here. Aid does not mean free money. Aid in most cases means loans that need to be paid back after graduation. Even though we paid tuition for our oldest son, he is still in the process of paying back student loans.

When Kerry talks about soaring tuition costs, it is not rhetoric. It is a reality here in Maine. As the Sun Journal editorial of July 4 says, Mainers are not seeing their standard of living getting better. It is, indeed, getting more difficult to pay tuition costs.

Kerry is on the mark.

Eileen Broderick, Bethel

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