Iowa State will add a third tier to its tuition rates specifically for international students, and some on campus are not happy about it.

“The problem is not that the tuition is being increased, the problem is the way they’ve done it and their justification for it,” said Abhijit Patwa, senior in mechanical engineering.

Right now, international students pay out-of-state tuition. International students will soon pay an additional $500 a year for three years, an overall increase of $1,500.

“No student input was gathered before. Students were not informed before the proposal,” Patwa said.“They basically went in with their minds made up about proposing this fee, and after the proposal was made is when they come and inform us.”

Two justifications for the increase were that international students require more services, and therefore should pay more than other students, and that the cost of attending Iowa State is still more affordable than other schools, even after the tuition hike.

“So it’s basically picking on the most diverse, unorganized and voiceless group on campus. Because you can, they’re not voters,” Patwa said.

“The students were obviously in disapproval and therefore I was in disapproval as well,” said Dan Breitbarth, president of Student Government and senior in business economics. “The most frustrating thing was the time frame we were given. I would like to know about it before October.”

Breitbarth said that learning about the increase at such a late time hurt the student body’s chances to react.

“Our reaction was untimely, which gave us sort of a setback when it came to providing legitimate argument for reducing or keeping the fees at a flat level,” Breitbarth said.

Breitbarth also said he felt the Board of Regents had already made up its mind.

“I wish we would’ve known about this when they were likely debating it, you know, months ago,” Breitbarth said. “I can’t say much about the vote because they obviously had their mind set up.”

The administration had met with students before presenting the increase in tuition, and made a point to meet with international student leaders on campus.

“From the beginning of September to November, there were a series of meetings,” said Jonathan Wickert, senior vice president and provost.

In addition to meeting with students, administration also provided a FAQ document to Student Government leadership.

“Student Government and GPSS leadership then actually came with some questions,” Wickert said.

Those questions were discussed with either the provost or Associate Provost David Holger.

“You can always communicate more,” Wickert said. “But in my experience, we communicated more on this tuition proposal than any other tuition proposal that I’m aware of.”

Wickert said that what he and others in the administration heard from students about the proposal was taken into consideration before a final proposal was made.

“We actually made a number of aspects of our proposal on the basis of feedback that students had provided,” Wickert said.

The cost of providing services to international students has increased and is spread across the institution.

“In the past, we were able to absorb those costs, but with the enrollment having grown so much, we’re now at the tipping point where additional funds are needed to be able to maintain the quality of services that we provide to international students,” Wickert said. “Nobody likes to raise tuition.”

Some international students were taken off guard by the increase.

“I’m surprised by the move,” said Tze Mei Lam, who goes by Rachel Lam, junior in nutritional science and international student from Singapore.

 “There’s no equality,” Lam said. ”I’m OK with increasing tuition for all students.”

She had heard about the increase from her international student ambassador.

“You’re making it more challenging for international students,” Lam said.

A total of 4,041 international students are enrolled at Iowa State as of the 2015 fall semester, representing 11.2 percent of total enrollment. The international student population has grown by 18 percent since 2011 and 91 percent since 2006.