The budget trouble at the University of Hawaii-Manoa has all the elements of a perfect storm: Enrollment is falling and tuition is rising at the flagship campus, which is spending more tuition revenue than its collects — all during an era of dwindling state support that finds the university ever-more reliant on tuition to cover operating expenses.

Enrollment is projected to continue to fall, while labor and utility costs continue to rise. It might seem like a strange time to put the brakes on tuition increases, but that is exactly what the Board of Regents should do.

A vote on Thursday set the stage. The board unanimously approved its budget committee’s recommendation to revise the policy that requires any increase or decrease in tuition to be discussed at a public meeting at least a semester in advance of the change. The revision preserves that requirement for tuition increases, but allows the regents to lower tuition at a public board meeting at any time.

UHis in the third year of a five-year tuition schedule that, if left unchecked, would ultimately raise tuition by more than 30 percent. Already, tuition alone at the UH-Manoa campus is $9,840 a year for full-time Hawaii residents, above the $9,000 threshold one study warned would suppress enrollment.

National studies and local research alike describe the heavy debt young people and their parents are taking on as they try to improve their lives and the communities in which they live — because cities like ours are more likely to prosper when populated by well-educated residents invested in higher learning.

Middle-class students, especially, are increasingly burdened by loans, as they do not qualify for the need-based financial aid that is granted free of interest to low-income students. For too many families, it’s become an unsustainable economic scheme, as lagging enrollment figures throughout most of the UHsystem are beginning to illustrate.

The answer is for UHto restrain spending, stabilize tuition and inspire a commitment by the state to finance higher education at the level it deserves — and the long-term welfare of our community demands. Accomplishing the latter demands a clear-eyed assessment of spending at UH-Manoa, to restore trust among state lawmakers and others who have cited examples of questionable spending.

Manoa’s chancellor has put together a new panel comprised of vice chancellors, deans, faculty members and graduate students to review and improve the university’s budget-allocation process, an endeavor that will be successful only if it focuses relentlessly on meeting the needs of the students whose tuition payments fund a growing share of the university’s operations. How many are graduating from individual departments, how long they take to graduate and whether they attain jobs afterward should be among the guiding questions.

Students understandably are demanding a bigger seat at the table in these discussions, given that tuition now accounts for roughly 30 percent of the operation budget, up from 19 percent five years ago. The state’s percentage has declined from 35 percent in 2009 to 25 percent now.

This trend has its limits. Ultimately, there is no greater public funding purpose than education. The lifetime value of a college degree remains unquestioned. UH-Manoa must clean up its act and credibly make that case.