The Board of Regents has begun giving serious consideration to a tuition freeze for students at Iowa State, Iowa and Northern Iowa.

The proposed tuition freeze is one that would keep resident undergraduate students’ tuition in place for the 2013-14 school year. Out-of-state undergraduate students would still see a 2.35 percent increase in their tuition rates, which is equivalent to $440.

Graduate students’ tuition would not be protected either. Resident graduate students will see a 1.19 percent tuition increase — about $92 — and nonresident graduate students can expect a 2.35 percent increase — about $462.

This tuition freeze would be possible providing that the state of Iowa agrees to give Iowa’s public universities a 2.6 percent increase in funding to replace the money that would otherwise be paid by tuition hikes. Low inflation rates for next year’s tuition is expected, so the proposal, which calls the increase in funding “modest,” counts on state funds being more than capable of supporting the tuition freeze.

As of now, the Board of Regents’ estimated cost of attendance at Iowa State for a resident undergraduate for the 2013-2014 year is $7,725.60 for tuition and mandatory fees. Mandatory fees are defined by the Proposed 2013-2014 Tuition and Fees bill to be “fees, charged to each student, [to] provide a distinct resource to respond to specific needs of students.” The proposal states that Iowa State has currently not proposed any changes in mandatory fees for next year.

Resident undergraduate students will still experience an increase in total cost of attendance next year, however, because the tuition freeze is strictly for tuition. This does not prevent rising costs in room and board and “other costs,” which are “quantified for financial aid calculations, [and] include the universities’ estimates of student costs for books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses,” as stated in the proposal.

The estimated increase in total cost of attendance for ISU resident undergraduate students is $475.00, or 2.5 percent.

“There aren’t long-term effects [to the tuition freeze],” wrote Jared Knight, president of Iowa State’s Government of the Student Body, via email. “The Board has made clear that a freeze this year won’t mean greater increases in future years.”

The Board of Regents will meet Dec. 5 to determine whether or not to approve of the tuition freeze proposal.