The possibility of differential tuition, predictable tuition and tuition charged on a per credit system commanded the discussion on tuition policy at the Board of Regents meeting Wednesday in Ames.

No changes were approved.

Earlier this summer, the Board of Regents expressed interest in reviewing the tuition policy and possibly making changes before receiving a recommendation on the tuition increase for the 2004—05 academic year.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said he wanted to explore the possibility of differential tuition for both a student’s classification and major.

For example, he said, juniors and seniors would be charged a higher tuition to compensate for the type of education they receive.

“The rationale is that the instruction at the junior and senior level costs more,” he said. “Classes are bigger, usually more intensive, etc.”

Geoffroy also proposed exploring charging tuition based on the number of credits student enroll to take.

“This seems to be the growing trend in the country,” he said.

University of Iowa President David Skorton agreed with Geoffroy’s proposed exploration of differential tuition and expressed concerns about tuition predictability.

University of Northern Iowa President Robert Koob said he would like to see a re-evaluation of the time at which tuition is set, but questioned the fairness of differential tuition or per credit hour tuition.

“I would hate for a student to not be an engineer just because it is more expensive,” he said. “We have to weigh the student choice on the one hand versus what makes good business sense.”

Currently, Iowa Code states the regents must decide on a tuition rate for the next academic year by their November meeting — a meeting that takes place around five months before the state Legislature decides how much money it will provide to the university for that academic year.

Government of the Student Body President Mike Banasiak reiterated points made in a letter sent to the regents earlier this month that stressed the importance of working with both the regents and the state legislature in promoting education as a priority in Iowa.

“We must have an increase of less than 10 percent because we cannot afford to add to the damage that has already been done,” he said.

“We must convince the state that education needs to be the top priority, and together we can do this.”

Nate Green, University of Iowa student body president, stressed the importance of ensuring tuition predictability for students.

“It’s very difficult when you are looking at the entire scope of planning and funding your education to budget for [a 50 percent] increase over four years,” he said. “Some students are being turned away from the university because they can no longer afford it, and that is the worst situation.”

Regent David Neil of La Porte City asked if the regents really want to go farther down the road toward the privatization of public higher education by making the universities more dependent on tuition.

“I am one not ready to give up yet [on getting state funds],” Neil said.

“We have to do a better job to explain our needs and spending our dollars more wisely to gain support from the legislature for the needs we have.”

Regent Robert Downer of Iowa City strongly supported Neil.

“If we want to maintain the very high quality of these institutions, maintain affordability [and] increase predictability, we have to have legislative changes,” Donner said.

Donner said although there have been discouraging signs over the past few years, he was not ready to give up either.

Regent John Forsyth of Des Moines called the current law mandating the regents to set tuition rates before they know the state contribution a failed experiment.

“We are forced to set tuition when we know absolutely no variables,” he said.

“It hasn’t served us well in terms of predictability,”

Forsyth suggested the regents ask for the law to be amended to allow them to set tuition at any time throughout the year.

The regents discussed little about charging tuition on a credit basis and the use of mandatory fees, deciding instead to wait for more information and data to be presented to them.

Regent Deborah Turner of Des Moines stressed that the regents should focus on how charging tuition on a credit basis will affect the overall system.

“We need to look at the whole picture and see how it’s going to impact the institution’s overall picture rather than just the concept of charging by credit hours,” she said.

During the November meeting, the regents will be able to bring forward any changes in state law that they want legislature to consider, at which point they may add tuition policies.

The remainder of the tuition policy issues will be discussed in February, following evaluation and data collection by the Board of Regents Office and the universities.