House approves tuition bills

There's been lots of chatter about what's going to happen with college tuition this session. Currently, our public colleges and universities have the authority to increase tuition no more than seven percent per year.

But as the state's economic situation has worsened, so have the proposed cuts to our higher ed institutions. Institutions get most of their instructional funding from two sources: state dollars (from taxpayers) and tuition dollars (from students). With state support going down and demand for classes going up due to unemployment, talk of lifting the seven percent cap has been one of the many difficult budget decisions bantered about.

The House just passed the two bills related to tuition - HB 2344 and SB 5734. These bills essentially lift the caps out of statute. Legislators will instead set a new cap in the two-year budget that is soon to be released. That new cap has not yet been determined, but it will likely be higher than the current seven percent.

This was one of the session's most difficult issues. TVW's blog has a great recap of some of the floor debate here. For a flavor of what the discussion has been leading up to this point, check here, here, here and here.