The board that governs the three state funded universities will be asked to approve another double-digit tuition increase. The Board of Regents will receive a recommendation next week to raise the cost of attending the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa by 17-point-six percent. That increase, if approved for the 2003-2004 school year, would come on the heels of an 18-and-a-half percent raise last year.Regents executive secretary Greg Nichols, says if approved, the increase would cost students who’re Iowa residents 650 more dollars. Students from outside the state would pay an increase of 13-hundred dollars. Nichols says state budget cuts of 124-million dollars the last two years are driving the increase. Nichols says the tuition increase won’t cover the entire budget He says the schools will have to make more budget cuts, too. The combined cost of tuition and room and board for attending ISU and Iowa would jump to over 14-thousand dollars a year — and to over 13-thousand-500 for UNI. Nichols doesn’t believe the increase will push the cost of a college education at the state schools out of the reach of students.He says these rates still represent a “reasonably good bargain,” and are still competitive with other institutions. He says they’ve tried to take steps to help students meet the increase.He says about seven-and-a-half million dollars from the tuition increase would be put into the scholarship fund. The Regents will review the proposal for the first time at their meeting next week in Iowa City. They’ll take comments and review it again in October before likely giving final approval at their November meeting in Ames. Governor Tom Vilsack issued a statement today saying the tuition hike is “unacceptable.” Vilsack, a Democrat running for re-election, blames the Republican-controlled legislature for the proposed increase. Vilsack’s Republican opponent, Doug Gross, has accused Vilsack of budget mismanagement that has caused tuition increases, which he calls “stealth taxes” on parents and students.