It's easy to pig out at a buffet.

That's bad for dieters, but it could be good for Texas college students. Some universities are taking the buffet-style approach to tuition plans, charging students one price for all the classes they can take. The hope is students will load up on classes and graduate on time, instead of nibbling on a few courses each semester over five or more years.

Starting this fall, the University of Texas at Austin will charge flat rates for undergraduates taking 12 or more credit hours a semester. The rates – each college has its own – are based on 14 credit hours, so anyone taking more than that gets a relative discount. Required fees, which used to be a separate charge, are part of the rates. The University of Texas at Dallas has a similar proposal in the works. Many private colleges already offer flat-rate plans.

The state's other flagship campus, Texas A&M University in College Station, also may switch to a flat rate. The A&M regents meet Thursday to consider a plan whereby students would pay one price, based on 15 hours, for 12 or more hours. As an extra nudge toward a diploma, future students would pay a surcharge for every semester they stay after five years.

The University of North Texas is mulling a flat-rate tuition similar to UT-Austin's.

"I want the graduation rates up, and flat tuition's a good way of doing it," UT Chancellor Mark Yudof said recently in Austin, where the board of regents approved the tuition plan.

State lawmakers want the graduation rates to rise, too. A new report on UT-Austin from the Legislative Budget Board noted that 36 percent of UT students graduate in four years, a rate lower than most of UT's peers, including Michigan, Illinois and UC-Berkeley. Seniors tend to hang around so long that they outnumber freshmen nearly 2 to 1.

So many students fail to graduate in four years, the national standard is now a five- or six-year graduation rate. Even then, just over 70 percent of UT-Austin students get their diplomas in six years. The state average is a little over 50 percent.

Some students insist they're not dillydallying. They're working part or nearly full time. They switch majors, which can set them back. Engineering majors say their schedules are especially tough.

State leaders say time is money. It costs more to educate the academic slowpokes, and they spend more too. Plus, if students graduate on time that opens slots for new students, thereby opening the doors to more people.

So does the buffet plan work?

If a pilot program at UT-Austin is any indication, the answer is yes. In 2002, the university charged a flat fee for students in the liberal arts and natural sciences college. Before the flat fee, about a third of those students took 14 hours. Now it's close to half. The rate in the other colleges, which still have the a la carte plan, increased much less.

Amber Byfield wishes she could have paid a flat rate at UT, but she's graduating in May, before the plan kicks in.

"I think it's a great idea," Ms. Byfield said. "I think there's a good number of people who will take advantage of it and graduate in four years."

Texas isn't the only state considering flat-rate tuition. Florida lawmakers are debating a bill that would require full-time students in public universities to pay for 15 credit hours, regardless of how many they take. Some student leaders there have rallied to oppose the plan, saying it punishes those who don't take a full load.

At Texas A&M, student leaders have heard similar concerns. "I do understand that students are going to be a little apprehensive about what's to come of it, but I believe that in the future it's going to work in their favor," student body president Jack Hildebrand said.

Mr. Yudof likened the new approach to a baker's dozen. "That's the message to students: The 13th bagel's on us."