The state Board of Regents will discuss the proposed tuition freeze for in-state undergraduate students for the 2013-14 school year on Thursday.

The regents first proposed the tuition freeze at their Sept. 12 meeting following close work with University of Iowa President Sally Mason.

“I hope it sends a real positive message to families,” Mason said at the September meeting.  “When the state continues to support the regent institutions, we can at least hold the tuition level.”

According to the agenda released by the regents, a vote will be taken at the Dec. 5 meeting for the tuition and fees proposal.

The proposal said the UI’s base tuition would stay at $6,678, and Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa would have a base tuition of $6,648 — a 0 percent increase from the 2012-13 academic year.

Nonresident undergraduate students at the regent universities could expect a 2.6 percent increase at the UI and UNI, while these students at ISU would have a 2.35 percent increase.

This would raise tuition at the UI by $648, ISU by $440, and UNI by $410.

While a tuition freeze would keep base tuition at the same level as the 2012-13 school year, mandatory fees aren’t subject to the freeze but won’t undergo drastic raises to compensate for lost revenue.

With the proposed freeze, officials hope to encourage in-state students to choose a public university to continue their education.

“This will do two things,” Regent President Craig Lang at the September meeting. “No. 1:  Maybe it will cause a trend, and No. 2 is that it will make us very competitive with higher institutions of education across the state.”