Liam Kirby’s college savings account dwindled in recent years with the stock market tumble.

The Lawrence High School senior knows he’ll have to work to pay for college, but he’d feel better if he knew the price tag he’ll face for four years at Kansas University.

“Even if it costs a lot more, it would be worth it — just knowing how much it would be, so you can buckle down and pay it,” he said.

Incoming freshmen at KU would know exactly that under a plan under consideration by administrators. Called “guaranteed tuition,” the scheme would lock in tuition rates for four years for incoming KU students.

It’s a concept in place at several universities, including University of Illinois, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

“When we were talking to students this spring (during student campaigns), tuition always came up,” said Jeff Dunlap, student body vice president. “It wasn’t the price people were angry about; it was the fact they entered the university thinking they’d pay one price and they’ll end up paying double the price. They felt that was unfair.”

Student leaders took the concept to administrators for preliminary consideration. So far, it’s had a warm reception.

“It’s an idea that has merit,” Chancellor Robert Hemenway said. “Students should have a fair representation of the university’s needs, and the university should give them a fair representation of what their burden should be.”

David Shulenburger, provost and executive vice chancellor, said he expected students, faculty and administrators to continue studying the issue.

If adopted, guaranteed tuition probably would be begin for the fall 2007 freshman class. That’s after a five-year plan of targeted increases that will see tuition rise from $2,333 in 2001-2002 to about $5,450 for a Kansas resident taking 15 credit hours per semester.

Many details remain to be determined, if the plan is pursued. For instance, the university must decide:

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l Whether to offer locked-in rates to transfer students, and if so, at what rate and for how many years.

l How to treat programs that typically take more than four years to complete, such as pharmacy and architecture.

l How to deal with “differential tuition” rates now found in almost every academic school on campus, which add school-specific tuition increases to the base rate.

“Those are things that we can work through,” Shulenburger said. “It’d be nice to get some agreement in principle. I’m really impressed with our students. It’s a neat idea.”

Drawbacks?

Not everyone is sold on the concept.

Christopher Morphew, an education faculty member who leads the planning and resources committee of University Governance, said committee members had several concerns about the plan.

For starters, he said, it would be complicated to implement. KU would be adding even more tuition rates to its system.

He also said the plan would hit incoming freshmen hard.

“It essentially asks the university to serve as an escrow agent the first couple years,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to buy a product like that. I’d rather save the money.”

Shulenburger said the plan would encourage students to finish their degrees in four years. But Morphew said he worried it would discourage students from switching majors or staying in school for other reasons simply because of cost.

“This gives you predictability,” he said, “but it costs you.”

For Dunlap, the student body vice president, the benefits would be worth the potential costs. He said he was glad administrators were considering the idea.

“The administration’s been great,” he said. “They could have laughed at us and said, ‘You crazy students. What a silly idea.'”