Topeka ? The cost of going to Kansas University would be nearly 16 percent more for incoming freshmen, but their tuition rate would be frozen for four years under a plan unveiled Thursday by school officials.

“We want to get away from the whipsaw effect of tuition increases over the past 30 years,” KU Provost Richard Lariviere told the Kansas Board of Regents.

For other students, KU is proposing a 6 percent increase in tuition for both resident and non-resident, undergraduate and graduate students, according to figures provided by the regents.

Under the “Four-Year Tuition Compact” proposal, first-time freshmen this fall at KU would pay under a four-year fixed tuition rate. Housing costs would be frozen in two-year increments, and course and campus fees would be projected in four-year schedules.

The proposal would charge freshmen $213 per credit hour for resident students, which is 15.9 percent more than the current rate of $183.75.

But their tuition would stay at that rate for four years.

Lariviere said this would give students certainty in planning school costs and encourage them to finish their degree in four years.

And, he said, it would save them money in the long run because historically, tuition has increased 9 percent annually.

Several regents members spoke highly of the proposal. They will consider whether to approve it during their June meeting.

Hannah Love, student body president, said she supported the proposal, especially given the double-digit tuition increases or recent years.

“I think it is a solution to help stabilize those numbers and curb those increases that we continue to see,” Love said.