Washington state lawmakers are at odds deciding how to handle the current college tuition costs.

Republicans in the Senate want to slash tuition by as much as 25 percent at Washington’s public universities, according to a recent article by The Seattle Times.

Students at WSU who currently pay yearly in-state tuition of $11,396 would save $2,849 per year with this cut, according to the WSU website.

However, Democrats argue that the Republican approach wouldn’t lower tuition at community colleges, would hurt low-income students in private colleges who receive state aid and would include a budgetary sleight of hand that cuts benefits to faculty and staff.

The Seattle Times reports that Democrats have proposed extending a tuition freeze for two more years and putting millions into financial aid, which would assist as many as 10,000 students who aren’t currently getting state help to pay for college.

As one of many students who rely heavily on financial aid to get through school, I’m thrilled to see the state is determined to make college more affordable. Both ideas seem to have the same end goal, but different means of getting there.

The problem of making college more affordable to students from low-income families would have a greater benefit from the Democrats’ proposal because the financial assistance would go to the students who need it most, not students who may or may not need the help.

Cutting the tuition by 25 percent would be nice for all the students at WSU, but it would affect all students equally whether they could already afford the tuition or not. If the money was given through financial aid, fewer students would feel the need to put off going to college because they can’t afford it.

A report called “Meet Us in the Middle” made last year by UW student leaders encouraged further aid for the middle class as well, requesting school officials and state legislators make it possible for students to work through school again.

The steps they proposed include extending financial aid by $20 million to the middle class and redistributing existing financial aid for the lowest-income students.

The good news is Washington state lawmakers are working to lower the cost of college in one way or another, which means more students will have access to higher education. To be the smartest with our money, we must choose to spend it in a way that will benefit the people who need the most help – by increasing financial aid, not slashing tuition.