Back in 2002, when Kansas University officials were trying to sell students, parents and the Kansas Board of Regents on a plan that would double tuition over the next five years, they stressed the need for KU to “catch up” with its peer institutions.

The question now, after five years of double-digit tuition increases at KU, is: Have we caught up yet?

Members of the Board of Regents seemed determined to take a hard line on tuition increases this year, but their resolve appeared to dissolve in the face of arguments posed by university officials this week. All the regents could agree on was a resolution asking university officials to bring them tuition proposals with increases that were “well below” the increases of recent years.

During discussion, regents indicated they couldn’t support tuition increases of more than 6 percent for next year, so KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway pledged that KU’s increase would be below 6 percent. Do we hear 5.99 percent?

It seems the least KU could do is match Kansas State University President Jon Wefald’s commitment to propose a tuition increase that is about 1 percent above the national higher education inflation rate, which was 3.4 percent last year.

In fact, if KU’s five-year tuition plan allowed it to catch up with comparable institutions, it would seem reasonable now to hold steady and increase tuition by no more than that 3.4 percent inflation rate. Another guideline was offered by Regent Gary Sherrer, who was a leading advocate for minimizing tuition increases. Sherrer noted that the regents had told legislators that a 5 percent increase in the higher education budget would allow the state to “run excellent universities. I don’t understand why we think we can do more than that to students.”

Students and their families surely agree. Another factor that bears watching in this debate is what occurs with “differential tuition,” the per-hour fees charged in all of KU’s professional schools. Will KU officials propose larger increases in those fees to provide the revenue they don’t receive from a higher general tuition increase?

Hemenway told regents that the current economic climate and its effect on students and their families should be a consideration in setting tuition rates. Many of the parents paying KU tuition probably will be getting pay increases well below 6 percent for the coming year. If KU really wants to share their pain, they should be looking at tuition increases of 5 percent, 3.4 percent or even less.