North Dakota's Board of Higher Education is likely to ask its four-year colleges to limit fall tuition increases to 3.5 percent, a lesser rise than the 4 percent the Legislature approved.

"We should have the campuses looking as hard as they can at how can they use all of the appropriated dollars and hold tuition at the least increase that they possibly can," said board member Jon Backes, who is chairman of a board subcommittee on finance.

During a telephone conference call meeting Tuesday, the three-member subcommittee agreed to ask the full board to cap this fall's tuition increase to 3.5 percent at North Dakota's six four-year universities. The board, which has eight voting members, is meeting Thursday at Dickinson State University.

A school still could request an increase between 3.5 percent and 4 percent, but the Board of Higher Education's approval would be required, the subcommittee's recommendation says. The board is planning to freeze tuition rates at North Dakota's five two-year schools for the next two years.

Any increase above 4 percent would need the endorsement of the board and the Legislature's Budget Section, which is an interim committee made up mostly of the appropriations committee members of the North Dakota House and Senate.

Backes, Duaine Espegard and Richie Smith, who is chairman of the Board of Higher Education, make up the board's finance subcommittee. They said Tuesday that seeking a lower tuition increase may win the board some future goodwill among lawmakers.

"I think that's very important, to say to the Legislature that 'We didn't use all of the authority you gave us,'" Smith said.

The 2009 Legislature, which finished its work last week, provided a 25 percent spending increase over two years for North Dakota's university system, which includes 11 public colleges. Its total budget for the 2009-11 budget period is $794.9 million.

Lawmakers said the larger budget should help relieve any pressure to raise tuition. "A signal needs to be sent that we heard what they said," said Espegard, who is a former Grand Forks state senator.

Ken Story, president of the North Dakota Student Association, said the student group had lobbied to cap any tuition increase at 4 percent.

"There's flexibility in the legislation," Story said in a telephone interview. "The lower the number, the better … If it falls (below 4 percent), that's great."

Dustin Gawrylow, a spokesman for the North Dakota Taxpayers' Association, said all North Dakota's public colleges should attempt to freeze their tuition rates.

"The taxpayers are footing a large increase. They should do what they can to try to keep it to zero," Gawrylow said. "It should be more than feasible to allow that benefit to be passed along to the students."