The Student Senate’s Tuition and Fee Review Committee wants to bring a policy to Eastern that would make tuition for students stay the same throughout their university career.

Jen Fanthorpe, student vice president for financial affairs, said the committee began looking into the idea last year when she was the committee chair, but further work was put off once the Tuition and Fee Review Committee began working on the new fee system.

The current committee, chaired by senate member Seth Quin, is beginning to address the issue once more. However, research for such a program is in the very beginning stages, Fanthorpe said Monday.

Western Illinois University is one school that already has a tuition guarantee program in place, which guarantees their tuition as well as student fees, Fanthorpe said.

“It was a great marketing tool for them,” she said, regarding the program’s ability to attract students.

Other schools guarantee only the tuition, she said.

Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs, said Monday the feasibility of a tuition freeze program at Eastern would remain unknown until there is more information on how it would be carried out.

Joe Robbins, speaker of the Student Senate, said Monday the tuition freeze system, if used correctly, could be advantageous for students. However, right now it is too early to tell.

John Maguire, assistant vice president for university relations as Western, said Monday the guaranteed tuition program guarantees tuition, fees and room and board for a student’s entire time at the institution, as long as the student stays continuously enrolled.

Maguire said the program is beneficial to students and has been a help to those concerned about affording their tuition, but the program also has some drawbacks as far as finances are concerned.

For example, if a school increases tuition, that increase only affects those enrolling for the first time, Maguire said. This requires careful budget planning as well as careful planning for long term changes and improvements to the campus.

“There is certainly some trade-off,” he said.

However, having such long-term planning is a good idea anyway, he said.

The only time a student’s tuition may change during their time at the institution would be health insurance, Maguire said. If a new fee is introduced, that fee will also be added, he said.

The viability of such a program at Eastern has yet to be determined, Fanthorpe said. At present, members of the Tuition and Fee Review Committee are looking into the different ways the program is carried out at different schools.

Fall 2003 would be the earliest such a program could go into effect, since tuition, fees and room and board rates have already been decided for next year, Fanthorpe said. It would take a total of four years to phase in the tuition freeze, because it can only be implemented to incoming students.

Western’s program began in the fall of 1999, and as a result, the current senior class does not have a tuition freeze, Maguire said.

Each year Western’s tuition rate for the following year is determined by looking at current rates and setting a new rate to account for inflation and to guarantee sufficient resources, Maguire said.