An Indiana Senator will let his bill requiring a tuition cap for public universities die on the Senate floor today.
Senator Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, proposed Senate Bill 262 to help students know how their tuition would increase year to year.
"I am calling on universities to create something better," Kenley said. "If they don't, I will call the bill again in January during the next session."
Kenley said because this was the first effort to limit tuition it has sent a message that something needs to change.
"(The universities) claim they want to be responsible," Kenley said. "They have been lobbying against it, and they have thrown out a lot of fear."
Ball State Lobbyist and Associate Vice President of Government Affairs Jeff Linder was not aware Kenley was not going to call it but said he didn't think it would have passed.
"We felt we had enough senators with us that it wouldn't," Linder said.
Acting President Beverley Pitts said she was relieved by the news.
"This is really good for the students and the university," Pitts said. "We're going to do everything we can to plan a budget. We all want to keep cost down."
The bill would have prevented tuition from increasing more than four percent or the higher education cost of living index.
The cap would not limit the amount tuition could be raises for freshmen, graduate students, out-of-state students, part-time students or students past their fourth year. It would also require universities to set their tuition rates in December.
Ball State sets its tuition rates in late April after the state announces how much money will be given to the university, and in the past five years, tuition increases have been as high as 10 percent.
"In the last 10 years (Indiana public universities) have increased tuition 110 percent," Kenley said in January. "This is higher then the national average by quite a bit."
Linder said tuition rates are increasing because the state doesn't have the money to support the university. He recognized, however, that the problem then falls to the students.
"We're serious about making some changes," Linder said. "Luke [Kenley] is a strong supporter of higher education. We will work with him this spring and summer to address his concerns."
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