Tuition going up at MUSC.

Byline: JONATHAN MAZE

See PDF for graphic entitled "Say ouch"

that shows increases in tuition at MUSC

Students to face mounting debts

When Valerie Bush entered pharmacy school at the Medical University of South Carolina three years ago, tuition for a semester amounted to $2,900.

On Thursday, MUSC's board approved a 20 percent tuition increase for next year, meaning Bush will pay $4,439 a semester, 53 percent more than when she started school.

"It's a little frightening to think of how much I'll owe," Bush, a Tennessee native and Clemson University graduate, said of her student loans. "But I will pay them off."

If it's any consolation, she will have plenty of company. The board approved increasing tuition at each of the university's six colleges an average of nearly 15 percent.

Dental students, still recovering from news a month ago that they'll have to start paying a …