The Iowa General Assembly approved the freezing of in-state undergraduate tuition before their closing session on Thursday.

This will allow the Iowa Board of Regents to freeze tuition rates for the first time in 30 years for Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. However, this freeze will only be for the 2013-2014 school year.

The only students affected by the freeze are Iowa resident undergraduates.

The increase in aid to Iowa State University is $4.4 million and will go into the general fund.

“This is great news for Iowa students and families and for the businesses and communities that rely on our graduates,” said interim Board President Bruce Rastetter, in a news release. “We are working hard to make college more accessible and affordable for all Iowans and this represents a great step in the right direction.”

“The bi-partisan support for Iowa’s public universities is a testament to both the legislature and the value these institutions provide,” Rastetter said.

“I think the tuition freeze will benefit the students because they can take out fewer loans, work fewer hours and focus on their education,” said Spencer Hughes, Government of Student Body president.

He believes the tuition freeze is one of the most important things because it’s affordable and it’s not going to set the students back as much. “It’s a good sign that things are changing.”

Hughes does not anticipate a decrease in non-resident enrollment at the university, partly because other states’ tuition for their residents is higher than Iowa State’s non-resident tuition.

For instance, Illinois State University’s website lists 2013-2014 resident tuition and fees as approximately $13,009 for 30 hours. Iowa State’s non-resident tuition and fees, for most majors, is estimated at $10,138.80.

The reason the tuition freeze was pushed by the Iowa Board of Regents this year was because of the economic climate. It made no sense to push it in recent years because of the recession. Since we’re turning the corner economically, there is more money to be allocated.

The Iowa legislature has fully funded this tuition freeze and placed a stipulation on it saying the Iowa Board of Regents is not to do tuition set-aside anymore. Tuition set-aside factored a certain percentage (19.7% at Iowa State) into students’ tuition to be set aside to pay for low-income students’ scholarships.

ISU economics professor Herman Quirmbach was unavailable to comment at the time.

Check back to the iowastatedaily.net as more coverage on this story continues.