Ballot Measures

Permit the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho to impose rates of tuition and fees on all students enrolled in the University of Idaho

November 2, 2010 Idaho General Election
Description:

This proposed amendment will clarify that the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho may charge students tuition, as authorized by law. Currently, the University of Idaho charges student fees to undergraduate students, but not tuition. Student fees cannot be used to pay for classroom instruction. All of the other state-supported colleges and universities in Idaho have the authority to charge tuition, and this amendment specifies that the University of Idaho will have the same authority.

Statements FOR the Proposed Amendment

1. Currently the University of Idaho can charge student fees, but those fees cannot be used to help pay for the cost of classroom instruction. This amendment will allow the University of Idaho to charge tuition, which can be used to pay for classroom instruction, a practice that is allowed at all other state-supported Idaho colleges and universities.

2. This amendment will not establish any rates of tuition or fees. The authority for determining rates of tuition and fees will continue to rest with the State Board of Education, sitting as the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho.

3. This amendment allows all Idaho's higher education state-supported institutions the uniform authority to charge tuition.

Statements AGAINST the Proposed Amendment

1. The University of Idaho is Idaho's land-grant university and predates statehood. The framers of the Constitution envisioned a free education for University of Idaho undergraduate students, and that historic precedent should not be changed.

2. Rather than amending the Constitution, the state could provide the additional funding to cover the costs of classroom instruction at the University of Idaho.

3. Changes to the Constitution should be made only for major issues of interest to the state or in the event of a constitutional crisis.

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