Tempe’s Undergraduate Student Government endorsed the concepts in a statewide student group’s tuition proposal Tuesday night but did not advocate for a specific tuition-increase amount.

The USG Senate passed a tuition recommendation for the 2009-2010 school year that stressed accountability and affordability both key factors in the Arizona Students’ Association proposal.

Like ASA, the Senate also advocated heavy student oversight and pathways for student input in University spending.

“This is a starting point,” said USG President Mark Appleton, who repeated the phrase throughout Tuesday’s Senate meeting. “A lot of this is starting the ball rolling. Asking for accountability now is important.”

While the USG tuition proposal mirrors many aspects of the ASA proposal, it does not follow the group’s call for a 3 percent tuition increase for returning undergraduates at all three state universities.

“We’re not supporting [ASU President Michael] Crow’s proposal,” Appleton said. “But we’re not going to come out and slap him in the face by giving a number so low [that he can’t operate],” he said.

Crow has proposed a 5 percent increase for all returning students.

After a four-hour meeting marked by contentious arguments, senators pushed for a final decision, rejecting a call to delay the vote until after the Thanksgiving break.

The approved USG proposal will be sent to the Arizona Board of Regents, which is expected to address tuition on Dec. 3 and 4 in a meeting at the Tempe campus.

According to the proposal, 9 percent of total tuition revenue should directly support student priorities, which would be determined by consulting with the student body by the end of January.

The proposal also calls for ABOR to provide tuition reports and information on the distribution of tuition expenditures to students at all three Arizona universities. ASU’s current financial documents and expenditure analysis are difficult to find and interpret, according to the proposal.

“Our state budget is drastically bad,” ASA board chair Michael Slugocki told senators. “We want to know where our tuition dollars are being spent. We want to see the breakdown and where it’s going.”

Slugocki focused largely on accountability — the Senate’s main concern — but also addressed affordability. He said that ASA’s proposed 3 percent increase matched the increase in the cost of living, as defined by the ABOR.

“Predictability doesn’t always lend toward affordability,” he said.

Slugocki had earlier said that ASU’s proposed increase seemed less substantiated.

“Why is it 5 percent? This number seems like it’s pulled out of thin air,” he said a meeting earlier this month where ASA leaders hashed out their proposal.

Crow told The State Press editorial board last week that his proposal was based on ASU’s operating costs.

“We actually look at what we need to have the institution work and then we say, ‘We don’t think that would be something our students could afford,’” Crow said. “So then we say, ‘OK, well let’s get it down to the smallest number we can.’”

Students should be able to plan to out educational expenses, but steps to limit increases are still necessary, Slugocki said Tuesday.

The cost of education has increased almost 150 percent in the past eight years, to $5,659 for the 2008-2009 year from $2,344 in 2000-2001, according to the ABOR Web site.

“This worries me,” said engineering Senator James Alling. “The cost of education is increasing. The focus needs to be what students pay and if they can go to college. There are better proposals out there.”

Alling opposed the USG proposal, saying it only dealt with tuition while the overall price of education, including housing and activity fees, continues to increase.

Reach the reporter at channing.turner@asu.edu.