Tuition cap bill dies in State Senate

INDIANAPOLIS -- A bill which would have put limits on tuition increases for public universities died in the General Assembly Wednesday. The bill was not called to vote in the Senate during its last day in session and will have to be resubmitted during the next legislative session in 10 months.\nSenate Bill 262 would have required universities to announce by Dec. 1 of each year the tuition rate for the school's next freshman class. That rate would remain fixed for the class for the next four years, aside from a cost-of-living increase of as much as 4 percent annually. Vincennes University and Ivy Tech State College may increase a student's tuition during their third year.\nState Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, one of the authors of the bill, said SB 262 was necessary to protect middle-income families. \nSkinner said in his own experience, rising tuition has built enormous debt for his family.\n"For the last six years, I have had daughters in college -- and will for the next two years," he said. "I will have accumulated almost $100,000 worth of debt from tuition. And that doesn't include the bill for $500 she gave me last week for textbooks."\nDespite the fact tuition has increased by more than 110 percent over the past decade, there is plenty of opposition to the notion of a tuition cap.\nIU Spokesman Bill Stephan and Associate Director of State Relations Kathy Smith were at the statehouse Wednesday to lobby state senators to strike down the bill.\nStephan said a tuition cap could hurt the quality of education at IU. At a time where state funding for higher education has diminished, he said a tuition cap would limit the University's budget options. He said all of the educational amenities at IU need to be paid for somehow, and if the state doesn't provide the funding, IU has sometimes increased tuition.\nStephan said the bill isn't necessary because a lot of the limits on cost for students are already being taken care of within the universities.\n"It needs to be emphasized that the last thing the trustees want to do is to raise tuition, so IU looks for every option to provide the same quality of education within our budget," he said.\nState Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville said she was concerned the bill would cause universities to front load a student's tuition in order to prepare for cuts in state funding.\nSB 262 was originally the second bill to be voted on during the morning's agenda, but State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, the bill's other author, pushed it until the end of the day to have time to answer questions and solidify support. When it came time to vote, he pulled the bill from the agenda because of a lack of support. He said he expected between 23 to 28 votes for it, with 26 needed to pass.\n"We had a feeling the vote was going to be kind of close, and some senators had questions about the bill," he said. "We wanted to give those guys the opportunity to make up their mind."\nHe said even if it had passed, the close vote would make passage in the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives especially difficult.\nKenley said one of the problems he encountered in receiving support was that "the university lobbyists are out there in droves, doing their best to stop the bill."\nKenley said he was disappointed he already made so many compromises with the bill between drafts.\nSkinner said more discussion on the topic would help, since he thinks the bill was misunderstood by some.\n"It was never my intent to hurt universities," he said."It's not meant to be punitive. It's meant to help middle income families who are struggling to pay tuition."\nSimpson said the bill started important discussions on tuition procedures.\n"I think he wanted to raise the issue," Simpson said. "He certainly has the attention of the universities. I think President (Adam) Herbert is very interested in trying out of the political environment and out of the spot light of the TV cameras, to try to work through a solution to Senator Kenley."\nStill, Skinner said in the next 10 months before they start another session, he believes they can at least form a committee to deal with the issue.\n"I don't expect it to go away," he said. "I guarantee it will come up again next year"