First, the bad news; it appears tuition will be going up about 6 percent each of the next four years at the University of Connecticut.

Now, the good news; the increase will be used to hire more faculty, giving students a greater ability to get the classes they need to graduate on time.

The faculty shortage is a serious problem at the main campus of UConn in Storrs, where too many students are unable to get into required classes and have to stay enrolled longer to graduate.

UConn President Susan Herbst has made an issue of the scarcity of classroom slots created by the shortage of faculty, and now she's promoting a plan to address the situation.

At a town-hall-style meeting at the UConn campus Monday, the university's chief financial officer, Richard Gray, explained that if tuition is increased about 5 percent or 6 percent annually over the next four years, more faculty can be hired and the school's student-to-faculty ratio improved.

President Herbst has said that if the university doesn't address its problematic student-to-faculty ratio, it will lose its status as a Top 20 public research university.

UConn will remain a relative bargain even with a 6 percent tuition increase next year. If such a rate hike were approved the cost, including tuition, fees, room and board, would be $22,430 for in-state students, about half the cost of many private four-year schools.

This newspaper has been critical of past tuition increases at UConn, and we're not especially keen on this one. But what we do like is the fact that the Herbst administration has a long-term plan. Its suggestion that tuition be increased each of the next four years and that funds be targeted to add faculty not only addresses a problem, but it allows students and parents to plan.

If such a plan were to be approved, we would recommend that new faculty be required to spend ample time in the classroom. UConn is a research university, but students are paying to get an education and that requires professors to be in classrooms.

Any tuition increase will have to be approved by the UConn board of trustees, which will not meet again until late January. Last year, at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's urging, UConn increased its cost by just 2.5 percent.

The university should continue to look for cost savings, but it also must focus on providing a quality education, including making classes available to students.