Many students are aware of the proposed 3.9 percent increase in tuition, but they might not be aware of a proposed 6.8 percent increase in room and board.

Randy Alexander, director of residence, said 6.8 percent is just a preliminary figure.

“I want the students to understand that this is just a preliminary figure,” Alexander said. “We will definitely run our ideas by the inter-residence association.”

He said ISU was given the suggestion that their reserve figures were too low compared with other Iowa schools. Part of the possible room and board increase would go to the reserves, he said.

Reserves, Alexander said, are amounts of money outside of the budget kept on hand by the department of residence in case of emergencies or “major capital jobs.”

Examples may be a leaky roof that needs fixing or extra construction work that needs to be done, he said.

Alexander said of the possible 6.8 percent increase, 3.95 percent would be an inflationary raise, and the amount leftover would go to reserves.

“Residence halls are a large operation,” Alexander said. “All universities are required to carry a certain amount of reserves in their budgets.”

ISU has $32 million in its residence hall budget, he said. About $4.5 million of that budget is alloted for reserves, he said.

“Our situation is a little different from some universities,” Alexander said. “If this school had all new facilities, maybe the situation would be different.”

Alexander said the percentage of money for the inflationary increase portion would go to increased salaries, among other things.

“Every year our expenses go up slightly,” Alexander said. “This isn’t unusual for any university. Education is a labor-intensive program.”

The figure was put together by Alexander and his staff, he said.

Discussions about the proposed rate will not begin until after semester break, and the final decision will not come until sometime in mid-spring, he said.

Although Alexander thinks the increase is reasonable, there will undoubtedly be students who disagree with him.

“All I know is that 6.8 percent is a huge increase,” Mike Pogge, Government of the Student Body LAS senator, said. “If the figures we are seeing are correct, then that’s a huge impact.”

“We’re at a point when living off campus is actually going to be cheaper than living in the residence halls,” Pogge said. “If this increase goes through, I might actually have to look into living off campus next year.

“It’s not fair to pass off these costs to students,” he said.

Alexander said tuition in Iowa is a “good deal” because Iowa schools are relatively cheap when it comes to room and board.

“I think ISU may have the third lowest cost in the Big 12,” Alexander said.

“We may very well have one of the lowest rates for room and board in the Big 12,” Pogge said. “But we undoubtedly have one of the lowest costs of living in the Big 12.”

Alexander said the raise is relatively “routine.” University of Northern Iowa is also considering raising their room and board rate, he said.

Alexander also said there are no hidden costs in the increase. He denied rumors that the department of residence is planning to build two extra towers in the Tower Residence Halls.

“We have absolutely no plans to add on to Towers,” Alexander said. “I think that is totally unfounded.”

Several students voiced their opinions on the possible room and board increase.

“I definitely think the room and board increase is more practical than the [proposed] tuition increase,” Yolanda Mergell, a freshman in physics and chemistry, said. “I think the money would be better put to use by the Department of Residence. It just makes more sense to me.”

Gretchen Proska, a freshman in design, agreed with Mergell.

“It doesn’t really seem like that big of an increase for those who have in-state tuition,” she said. “It probably isn’t raised that often; to me, it’s no different than raising the room and board only one percent a year.”

Mergell’s neighbor in Linden Hall disagreed.

“I don’t understand why they would need that big of a raise,” Tianna Wood, a freshman in psychology, said. “I really don’t understand why they would raise it at all. Doesn’t the university make enough money, anyway?”