The undergraduate student body presidents from Iowa State, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa have proposed what would be the second lowest tuition increase in 25 years for the 2008-09 school year.

In a letter from the student body presidents to the Board of Regents, it is outlined that high tuition has caused increased student participation in job seeking rather than studying, and financial pressures add to the already stressful lives of students.

“These pressures hinder students from graduation within four years and make it difficult for them to take advantage of the enriching education offered by the regents’ institutions,” they wrote in the letter.

As a solution to these problems, GSB President Brian Phillips, senior in political science, Barrett Anderson, Iowa’s student government president, and Andrew Morse, Northern Iowa’s student government president, have proposed a tuition increase that is less than the rates provided by the Higher Education Price Index.

The HEPI is a calculation used by the Board of Regents based on yearly inflationary increases, which for the 2009 fiscal year is in the range of 3.2 percent to 4.5 percent for both in-state and out-of-state students.

Phillips said the proposal was something all parties felt was realistic, but the final numbers to be decided on by the regents at its meeting on Dec. 4 are a bit higher than what was originally proposed.

During the first read of the request, the Board of Regents voted down an amendment that would have dropped the tuition increase to just 2 percent. While the proposal was voted down, regent Jack Evans said that the numbers are still quite reasonable.

“I think we have come in with numbers that are lower than usual,” Evans said. “My conclusion is that it is a very modest increase. I feel that it is a very reasonable number, and I was glad to see that it wasn’t any higher, actually.”

For the 2008-09 academic year, the tuition percentage increases to be approved by the Board of Regents are: 3.2 percent for undergraduate in-state students, 2.5 percent for undergraduate nonresidents, 3.2 percent for graduate residents and 2.5 percent for graduate nonresidents.

These percentages make for overall increases that could result in a $172 increase for in-state undergrads, $404 increase for nonresident undergrads, $200 increase for in-state graduate students, and $424 increase for nonresident graduate students.

Evans said the board tries to follow HEPI recommendations, but this year the role taken by the student body presidents was a driving factor in the final numbers.

“I was advised that the board has tried to follow the HEPI guidelines in the past,” Evans said. “I believe this is the second lowest increase in the past 25 years.”

In a letter from John Geweke, director of the Institute for Economic Research at Iowa, to Doug True, vice president for finance at Iowa, HEPI predictions don’t have a track record of being spot-on with its initial predictions.

According to the letter, “Choosing a single forecast for HEPI inflation involves consideration of both the uncertainties conveyed by these predictive distributions together with the costs associated with the inevitable error in the forecast.”

Also included in the letter from the student body presidents to the Board of Regents is a line that states that student fees at Iowa State will increase by $12.18 for every student to support the CyRide bus system and recreation services on campus.

The letter also states that “funds for CyRide will offset rising fuel prices and mandated minimum wage increases. Recreation services funds will help accommodate the rising number of participating students.”