A “tuition lock” is the target of a new Missouri House bill which seeks to ensure freshmen have the same tuition rate throughout their college careers.
Rep. Jason Holsman, D-District 45, sponsors HB 1925 and is pushing the measure as a means to assist students and families in financial planning and budgeting through the college process, he said.
“We want to give parents and students certainty in budgeting,” Holsman said. “We aren’t taking away any university’s right to raise tuition, we’re simply helping students and families financially. Essentially all we’re saying is when new classes come in, they won’t see an increase in tuition while they complete their chosen degree program.”
The bill is specific in its requirements and is mainly seeking to normalize the rapid rises in tuition, according to the bill.
“During the five continuous academic years following a student’s initial enrollment at a qualifying institution, the tuition charged to a student shall not exceed the amount that the student was charged at the time they first enrolled in the institution,” according to the bill.
It also would only apply to in-state students, and individuals would have to remain enrolled full-time for the full length of their degree programs to continue qualifying for the tuition lock. The maximum time a student would qualify for the lock would be five years.
“To qualify for this tuition lock-in, students shall be continuously enrolled full-time, excluding summer session classes… a qualifying student is defined as a Missouri resident in at least 12 credit hours per semester,” according to the bill.
In addition to allowing students and their families the ability to financially plan based on set tuition, the bill could also make Missouri education more competitive, Holsman said.
This is due to the increase in out-of-state tuition that all states charge students who attend but aren’t residents. If a student were deciding between the UM System and an out-of-state school system, the tuition lock is an incentive to stay in Missouri, Holsman said.
MU’s budget office was unavailable for comment, and the MU News Bureau would not comment on the pending legislation. Holsman said he concedes the idea of a tuition lock is not well-received by everyone. This is due to some states experiencing unintended consequences of the changes.
In 2003, Illinois passed the Truth in Tuition Act, which is very similar to the current Missouri legislation. Though the idea seemed effective initially, critics say it resulted in higher overall costs for incoming students.
“Due to this law, public universities have to account for four years’ worth of inflation and other potential increases in cost when setting tuition rates, which leads to a significant increase in tuition for future classes,” according to a report issued by the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting, which analyzed the Truth in Tuition Act and its implications.
Incoming freshmen in Illinois faced an average annual increase of 12.4 percent in tuition costs in the five years following the tuition lock, the report also stated. In the prior 10 years, however, the average tuition increase was only 4.3 percent.
The sharp tuition increases for incoming freshmen would not apply to Missouri students because Missouri law forbids state universities from increasing tuition any more than the inflation rate each year, Holsman said.
“I want to be clear…I am a supporter of the UM System,” Holsman said. “This bill is in no way meant to be punitive to the UM System or any other university system. The bill is simply meant to be supportive of the parents and students who choose to attend the education system in Missouri.”
To address the issue of budget cuts, another idea being discussed is the option for a university to be exempted from the tuition lock in the case of state budget cuts. In a situation like the UM System experienced this past year with massive shortfalls in state funding, the bill might be amended to include an exemption so the universities can still have the flexibility to raise tuition if they needed to, Holsman said.
“This would still give the universities the flexibility to ensure they meet their demands but still keep tuition more affordable,” Holsman said. “Tuition is high and has gone higher every year for 50 years. You have to eventually ask yourself this question: Is the university system here to serve the students, or are the students here to serve the university?”
