Today’s high school sophomores could have a better idea how much they’ll need to pay in tuition by the time they start their careers at Kansas University.

KU administrators say they’re pursuing a plan that would lock in tuition rates for incoming freshmen beginning in fall 2007. The students would pay the same rate for four years.

“I think the idea is a good one,” said David Shulenburger, provost and executive vice chancellor. “It’s a great advantage for families to know exactly when their students are admitted how much they’ll be paying.”

The “guaranteed tuition” model was proposed by Steve Munch, student body president. He floated the idea to administrators last semester but now has a written proposal for discussion.

He said he’s hoping for a campuswide discussion about the proposal during the spring semester.

Under the proposal, first-time freshmen would join a “cohort” that would have a locked-in tuition rate. Students who enroll in five-year or six-year programs also would have their rates locked in for the expected length of their college careers. The plan wouldn’t apply to graduate students.

At the moment, the draft of the plan doesn’t include “differential” tuition rates charged by nearly all schools at KU. Those are school-specific rates added to base tuition.

“We’re hoping we can work out some way to have those included in the final plan,” Munch said. “The differential fees are increasingly a part of tuition. It makes sense to have them included.”

The plan also would encourage students to complete their degrees in four years.

Munch’s proposal was spurred, in part, by the current five-year tuition plan being enacted by KU officials. Rates have increased 44 percent since the 2001-2002 school year.

“This is for stability and consistence,” Munch said. “It gives students and families a very accurate depiction of what the cost of the education will be. This is a commitment for the university to say honestly, ‘You can come here and we’re not going to turn around and gouge you.'”

Shulenburger said he hoped administrators, students and faculty could come into agreement on the proposal this spring so staff could figure out the logistics for starting billing systems in the next two years.

He said he wasn’t sure how the Board of Regents would view the proposal, since it would be a departure from the regents’ former policy of approving tuition rates one year at a time.

“This feels like a good step forward,” Shulenburger said.