President Wendy Wintersteen sent an email to students Thursday explaining potential tuition increases coming to be implemented in future academic years.

The Board of Regents Thursday meeting included a five-year plan for tuition presented by Board President Mike Richards that could address three scenarios.

According to an email from Wintersteen, the options include:

“1) If the state fully funds the universities’ appropriation requests, the Board will implement a 3 percent increase to resident undergraduate tuition.

“2) If the state provides no additional funding, the resident undergraduate tuition increase will be 3 percent plus the projected Higher Education Price Index (HEPI). For context, HEPI is projected at 2 percent for the current year.

“3) If the state partially funds the appropriation requests, the resident undergraduate rate will be somewhere within the range outlined above.”

This means students can expect tuition increases of at least 3 percent based on projections by the Regents and dependent on the funding levels passed by the state legislature, the percentage could be higher.

The plan wasn’t voted on and is subject to change as the final vote will occur at the meeting going from April 17 to April 18. By then, the Board hopes to have a good idea of what the funding levels from the state will be set to. The second vote will happen at the meeting scheduled for June 4 through June 6.

“In addition to tuition, Iowa State University is requesting increased state appropriations and will make internal reallocations to ensure our budget fully aligns with strategic priorities in our teaching, research, and extension programs and student services,” according to Wintersteen in the email.

Iowa State is requesting $7 million in increases for the FY20 general appropriations budget from the state for help providing financial aid to students. Wintersteen will be arguing for this increase to Gov. Kim Reynolds on Nov. 26.

“Iowa State University is committed to remaining affordable and accessible,” according to the email from Wintersteen. “We will continue to advocate strongly on behalf of our students, faculty, and staff for additional state support to ensure a high level of excellence across the university.”