Elizabeth Macias thought more than once about crossing the border for good. If it wasn't for her senior status, she might have left her friends and family a long time ago, she said.

The recent tuition increases at the University of Texas at El Paso and other universities across the state are causing some students like Macias, a political science senior, to seriously consider attending an out-of-state school, such as New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, which is only 30 miles away.

While most university officials view tuition deregulation as a necessary evil to combat rising costs and fewer state allocated dollars, some lawmakers and students accused universities of abusing their tuition-setting power.

College costs have increased significantly in the year after the Texas Legislature deregulated tuition in summer 2003, effectively transferring power to set rates from the state to university officials. At UT-Austin, President Larry Faulkner is considering a proposal to hike tuition by 4.75 percent for the next school year, following a 12.7 percent jump during the current academic year.

"Freshmen who probably would have gone to UTEP are heading to New Mexico, because it's so close," Macias said. "I guess it's like you go ahead and pay what you have to pay, because for me to transfer anywhere would be so expensive."

Deregulation has been a "catch-22" at UT-El Paso, said Richard Padilla, vice president for student affairs at UTEP.

Texas universities do not have to wait every two years for the Legislature to be in session for the chance of receiving needed increases. But, if they raise the price too much, the state has the power to reclaim the authority.

Tuition will increase $8 per credit hour at UTEP next year.

Padilla said there is no way of knowing whether students are more likely to look out of state for college, but he hopes that will not happen.

State universities increased tuition an average of 11 percent as opposed to 6 percent during the previous non-deregulation year, according to figures released by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Eleven state universities that had no tuition increase before deregulation elevated rates an average of 9 percent

"At some point, students will vote with their feet," said Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso. "Back in 1996 when New Mexico State University equalized a tuition with UTEP, one in ten students left the campus and went to Las Cruces. So, clearly, the regents are not the only ones who have a choice."

Shapleigh said he originally voted against deregulation and said most of the lawmakers who previously supported it would now be against it as well after seeing the possibility of most schools raising tuition considerably for the second time in two years.

Schools should only be able to increase tuition after demonstrating a need, Shapleigh said.

Rep. Fred Brown, R-Bryan, an author of the deregulation bill, said his office has received surprisingly few complaints by people against the measure.

"We're pleased with deregulation so far, primarily because of the different things the universities told us they would try to do with deregulation - hire large numbers of new faculty so students get a better education," Brown said. "I think they're trying to work with us because they know we're gauging them very carefully over what they're doing with deregulation."

Brown added he was "shocked" at the magnitude of the ensuing increases and said most legislators did not expect state universities to raise tuition so much. But the increases will not have a noticeable effect on most students, he said.

"I would just ask the universities to be very careful how they approach future increases, just because of the increased scrutiny from the entire Legislature," Brown said. "We don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction where we say 'enough's enough' and take away any right for future deregulation increases."

It is still too early to tell whether deregulation is better than the old system, Padilla said, but students were part of a group that said short-term increases would be beneficial.

Deregulation is having its intended effect, and the money is going where it was intended to go, said Thomas Anderes, senior vice president for administration and finance at Texas Tech University.

"In the long-run, it provides more flexibility in terms of each [state] university and college reacting to its environment," Anderes said. "When you have a single flat fee - that doesn't fit everyone."

Anderes said he isn't concerned with students heading out of state for college because of the higher cost for most Texas residents. More students may go to community colleges instead of going to one of their first choices, he added.

Texas State University will be increasing tuition $15 per credit hour, and the need to increase tuition is felt by universities across the state, said Bob Nance, vice president for finance and support services at Texas State.

"At least deregulation allows each university to assess their own individual needs and take it to it's board of regents so they can set the policy," Nance said.

The UT-Austin Tuition Policy Advisory Committee recommended last week a 4.75 percent tuition hike coupled with expanding the flat-rate program across the entire University.

Committee members have repeatedly stressed that the University is forced to raise tuition because of recent decreases in state-allocated money.

Most of the net $16.5 million expected to be generated by the increase will go toward hiring new faculty and campus maintenance.

"Tuition deregulation hurts middle class students the most," Shapleigh said. "Low-income students have many grants, high-income students have lots of money, and middle-income students have neither. Middle-income Texans are strapped by increased tuition."

Macias, who describes herself as middle income, said universities know students will pay whatever it costs to get a higher education.

"Since the state Legislature doesn't mandate tuition anymore, they can charge us whatever they want," she said. "They are going to take students for all they're worth."