A bill in the state Legislature could cap tuition for in-state students, but put an additional financial burden on freshmen and out-of-state students.
Senate bill 262, passed by a 6 - 4 vote on Wednesday by the Senate Education and Career Development Committee, will go to the Senate floor today. The bill asks for public universities in Indiana to place a 3 percent cap on tuition increases for in-state students.
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, proposed the bill and now plans to amend it today at the second reading of the bill. Kenley said the higher education cost-of-living index will now be what determines the tuition cap. Kenley said this will allow the tuition cap to fluctuate year to year and will better reflect normal increases.
The cap, however, does not limit the tuition increases of incoming students nor out-of-state students.
Provost Beverly Pitts said putting any cap on tuition will hurt Ball State financially.
"We don't want to hurt students' education," Pitts said.
Tuition pays for the running of facilities and faculty and staff.
"Everything around you is paid in part by tuition," Pitts said.
Kenley said the higher education cost-of-living index was 4 percent last year.
If a 4 percent cap was placed on tuition in 2000, Ball State would have lost $699 over four years for every in-state student enrolled in his or her fourth year.
"This will place a huge burden on potential freshmen," Pitts said.
Freshmen and out-of-state students might face higher tuition rates to make up for the money lost because of the cap, Pitts said.
"In the last 10 years (Indiana universities) have increased tuition 110 percent," Kenley said. "This is higher than the national average by quite a bit."
The bill also requires universities to set tuition rates in December. Currently, the Ball State Board of Trustees sets tuition rates in April after the members know how much the state budget will be given to the university.
"Sixty to 65 percent of our budget comes from the state," Pitts said. "December is next to impossible. We won't know where half of our money is going to come from."
Kenley said this was an attempt for the state to know how much to give a university.
It will also allow incoming students to know how much they would have to pay before choosing a university, he said.
Kenley will also amend the bill allowing universities to make an appeal in order to surpass the cap.
In the past five years Ball State has increased tuition by as much as 10 percent for in-state students.
There are no laws that regulate tuition rates, Pitts said.
Construction projects at the university will not be affected by the bill because they are supported by other funds, Pitts said.
"This bill will affect the quality of education," Pitts said.
After the bill passes through the Senate, it will be voted on by the House.
Kenley believes once he has amended the bill it has a good chance of passing.
Pitts, however, does not agree.
"We will continue to speak against it, because we don't feel it is good for higher education," she said.
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