BACKGROUND: At the Student Government Association meeting last night, University President Jesse Rogers announced to about 70 students that Midwestern State University will move to a fixed tuition rate in fall 2014.

ROGERS: Midwestern needs, more than anything else, predictable income so we can put a budget together rather than having to scramble after enrollment and tuition is paid. This will give us a much better handle on the university’s income.

LEGISLATIVE MANDATE: During the last session, the Texas Legislature mandated that all public universities offer a fixed tuition option. Rogers said he wants to move away from our current tuition system and implement a mandatory fixed tuition rate to avoid continuously rising tuition rates.

ROGERS: I’m going to tell you right up front: I have been really worried for the last few years about continuing as we have in the past.

VP of business affairs and finance ­MARILYN FOWLÉ: We’ll have a 12-semester plan for new students and current sophomores. We’re trying to give everybody that benefit of the fixed rate, but it’s going to be different for each group.

LAST YEAR: $111.50 per credit hour in 2013.

NEXT YEAR: 

Seniors | $114, an increase of 2.2 percent fixed for two years.

Juniors | $116.50, an increase of 4.5 percent fixed for nine semesters.

Sophomores, freshmen and transfer | $119, an increase of 6.7 percent fixed for 12 semesters.

NEXT STEPS: MSU administrators must propose final plan to the Board of Regents during the Feb. 13-14 board meeting.

ROGERS: We haven’t discussed this with our Board of Regents. We’ve discussed it to administration, but the first group we’ve gone to the students because you’re the ones that are going to bear this cost. We want to see what you think about the plan that we’re going to put before you.

FOWLÉ: What we don’t want to end up doing is having 80 different plans. Eventually we’ll have five plans. That’s all we’ll have to maintain.