The state Board of Regents will discuss imposing a surcharge of $100 per full-time student at the three state universities at its meeting Thursday in Cedar Falls.

The regents will also consider a 6 percent tuition hike for the next school year. Regent Rose Vasquez said the regents worked with officials at the three public universities to determine how much of an increase they should propose.

Institution leaders, including UI President Sally Mason, are set to present plans to the board on Thursday on how they hope to trim roughly $60 million from the schools’ budgets. The UI has been asked to cut $24.7 million. The budget-reduction plans won’t be made public until the meeting, but officials have said they are considering salary decreases, layoffs, furloughs, and benefit reductions in addition to the tuition increase and surcharge.

The surcharge — which would affect all students at the UI, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa and would be prorated for part-time students — would draw in approximately $5.7 million for the regents. This equals roughly 10 percent of what they’ve been directed to cut in response to Gov. Chet Culver’s recent 10 percent across-the-board reductions to the state budget.

Students eligible for financial aid could see more help for the surcharge, if eligible.

Vasquez said she supports both the tuition increase and surcharge but recognized the burden it puts on students.

“It’s not a good place to be,” she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised that [students] don’t really welcome it.”

UI junior Alec Siglin said he wouldn’t be enthusiastic about the surcharge, and he thinks it is unfair to charge students midway through the year.

“That just seems unnecessary, maybe excessive,” Siglin said.

UI graduate student Jared Vavroch was also opposed to the idea of charging students while already well into the school year.

“I think once tuition is set for the year, it should be set in stone,” he said.

But he said he understood the need for the increase and could accept it “as long as the university isn’t taking it lightly” and “always keeps in mind it works for us.”

Vasquez defended the increase, saying a balanced approach to budget cuts is the best solution.

“The more you can spread and distribute the ouch-factor, the better it is for everyone,” she said.

The regents aren’t scheduled to make an official decision on either proposal this week; tuition decisions are slated for the board’s December meeting. A 6 percent increase in tuition would translate into an additional $346 for in-state residents, and $1,268 for out-of-state residents.

As for the idea that tuition increase and surcharge could affect retention rates — the UI already has the lowest retention rate in the Big Ten at 83 percent — Vasquez said she was confident they would not have a serious effect.

“I’m not worried about it,” she said. “I don’t think we’re pricing them out.”

On top of a 6 percent increase in tuition at the UI, the board is considering raising mandatory fees by 23.7 percent. That equals an 8.7 percent total increase for in-state students and a 6.8 percent total jump for out-of-state students.