A bill that would give each of the state’s three public universities their own governing boards is making its way through the Arizona House.
The plan would also strip the Arizona Board of Regents to just a “general oversight role." Currently, the governing body directly oversees the schools.
Representative Mark Finchem, one of the bill’s sponsors, explained the individual governing boards would force schools to compete for students and, in turn, keep costs under control.
"You end up with a school that is competing for student count, competing for the best people that are going to come into their school that are going to show success," Finchem said.
State Senator Sylvia Allen is pursuing a less radical approach to controlling costs.
Her bill seeks to cap tuition increases at 2 percent a year. A vote on that bill was delayed in the education committee Thursday to address concerns by the Board of Regents.