Back-to-back record tuition increases have some state lawmakers and university faculty thinking about the possibility of putting a freeze on tuition.

Though a freeze would ease the strain put on students to afford tuition, local representatives said such an act would require a lot of work and outside funding.

Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames, said she thinks there is a possibility for tuition freezes to allow more students to afford higher education.

“The increase in tuition is outpricing the possibility for a number of students to have access to higher education,” she said.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said he believes tuition freezes are a possibility.

Schmidt said previous tuition increases have narrowed the gap between the cost of tuition at Iowa State and the cost at other Regents universities.

Schmidt said he thinks Iowa residents see the importance of higher education as a tool to train future professionals and taxpayers in the state.

But, before anything happens, it will need further consideration from the Board of Regents and the Iowa Legislature.

Barbara Boose, communication specialist for the Board of Regents, said she does not know if a tuition freeze is possible.

“We can’t speculate specifically on what tuition will be,” she said. “The challenge for the board and for the state is balancing high quality and accessibility,” she said.

Rep. Jim Kurtenbach, R-Ames, said he thinks the decision to freeze tuition would come from the Board of Regents, but feels legislators do have concerns about tuition.

“It’s a question of choices and with the legislature’s [opinions] on tuition increases, we don’t approve of them,” he said.

John McCarroll, director of university relations, said he has heard no speculation of a tuition freeze.

“I’m not aware of any assessment to a tuition freeze,” he said.

Schmidt said the money to fund higher education will have to come from other sources if tuition increases cease.

“I think we can grow the economy more quickly so revenues will increase and make it unnecessary to [increase tuition],” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said it will also be important to stop inflation in higher education.

“I think there are some different ways of doing business in higher education that we haven’t yet tried,” he said.

Boose said more budget cuts would likely happen, particularly if tuition was frozen.

“We anticipate that some reductions will be required because even with the tuition increases the tuition revenue does not make up for the cuts in state funding [for universities],” she said.

Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames, said if tuition were frozen, universities would have to make some changes.

“I think [ISU President Gregory] Geoffroy has already suggested that we would have to cap enrollment and then we would be able to fund colleges,” Greimann said.

Heddens said if tuition were frozen, universities will have to look for other sources of funding. It is also important to consider the long-term possibilities for tuition freezes, she said.

“We don’t want to just freeze [tuition] for one year and then all of a sudden have to do a huge hike increase to fund [universities] after that,” Greimann said.

Schmidt said he believes tuition issues are particularly important in Iowa’s economy right now.

“Administration and legislators are interested in [tuition], but now there is a lot of pressure [to make changes] because of the state of the economy,” Schmidt said.