Tuition at Kansas University will go up next year. But it’s not clear how much.

KU officials on Thursday proposed to the Board of Regents a 4 percent hike in its standard tuition rates for Kansas residents, and a 6 percent increase for incoming freshmen on its guaranteed tuition compact.

Earlier in this year, the regents told the state Legislature that it could adopt a tuition freeze for Kansas residents if budget cuts were not deeper than 7 percent. But higher education took a 10 percent hit in the Legislature’s recent cuts.

On Thursday, some regents said they thought tuition increases were needed — but only to the point that universities could recoup funding lost in the last legislative session.

Others on the board disagreed and said additional increases may be necessary.

And KU Provost Richard Lariviere told regents that they had presented a deal — with minimal consultation with universities — to stake out a political position, a decision he had no problem with. But now, the regents were under no obligation to stick to an agreement that legislators had not followed.

“When the Legislature laughed and walked away, that deal was off the table,” Lariviere said.

Donna Shank, regents chairwoman, disagreed with Lariviere, and said that rather than “laughing,” she thought several legislators took the offer seriously. Regent Gary Sherrer said he thought regents had consulted with universities before making the offer.

Sherrer blamed the Legislature for the upcoming tuition increases.

“The reason we’re having this discussion is because of the Legislature not choosing higher education as a priority,” he said, adding the regents were willing to take their initial cut, but the Legislature chose to cut more.

Regents reached no final consensus on tuition, saying they would review the issue again in June.

Of the six regents institutions, only one — Emporia State University — presented a tuition increase that was below the level at which it would recoup the lost state funding.

KU officials said they would have to revisit their numbers given the guidance from the regents. Theresa Gordzica, chief financial officer for KU, said she didn’t yet know what effect a smaller tuition hike would have on the university’s guaranteed tuition plan.

Tuition for freshmen and sophomores on KU’s guaranteed tuition plan — estimated at 40 percent of undergraduates — would hold steady under the proposal KU unveiled Thursday. KU’s total revenue from tuition would increase by about 3.1 percent, compared to 5.6 percent last year.

KU’s standard tuition rate would apply only to seniors, graduate students and transfer students, with the rest of the students on a guaranteed tuition schedule.