Legislators kill bills controlling tuition rates

The Ind. state legislature has recently been faced with several bills pertaining to higher education. Two of these bills, as of this week, are no longer eligible to be enacted this year.

HB 1118, “University Tuition and Fees,” proposed that the Commission for Higher Education be allowed to establish maximum tuition increases for public universities in the state of Indiana.

Proponents of the bill note that the legislation, if passed, would lower the cost of tuition. Its opponents, however, worry about the possibility of programs being cut as a result of lower tuition rates.

“One of the things that gets lost in this tuition debate is that, while tuition has gone up, the largest contributor to the increasing student debt is what they spend beyond tuition,” said Bloomington Faculty Council Budgetary Affairs Committee member Herbert Terry, not speaking on behalf of the committee but instead out of long-term involvement.

He said things like housing and other expenses can contribute to increased student debt.

Beginning this year, IU will offer tuition discounts for summer classes, and Purdue is slowly transitioning to a trimester system, both of which are initiatives Terry believes to be in response to HB 1118.

“Both of these things respond to the underlying concern of the General Assembly — the cost of education and the related student debt,” he said. “Frankly, I think both universities did these things, in part, to head off efforts by legislators to deal with this through things like tuition controls.”

HB 1118 failed to receive a hearing in its house of origin by Feb. 1, said Jeff Linder, associate vice president for public affairs and government relations. The bill is no longer eligible to be enacted this year, he said.

However, components of the bill can be rewritten, so the bill can, in a sense, come back for consideration, Terry said, adding he doesn’t think this is likely to happen.

Another bill, SB 411, “Public Employee Salary Limitation,” proposed salaries of various public employees, including faculty of state educational institutions, not be permitted to exceed the salary of the governor, which is currently about $95,000 annually.

Currently, the salaries of nearly 2,000 University faculty and staff members exceed the $95,000 threshold.

“I think most of the members of the General Assembly wouldn’t go that way since, like most government entities, Indiana doesn’t pay its chief executive officer all that much,” Terry said.

Linder said SB 411 died as well and is not eligible to be enacted this year, either.

A few bills remain regarding government intervention in the “core curriculum” in state institutions of higher learning.

“The universities have been working with the legislators and Commission for Higher Education of that proposal,” Linder said.