Tuition increases at public universities in Texas would be sharply restricted under legislation approved unanimously by the Texas Senate on Monday.

The measure now goes to the House, where there is also strong interest in cracking down on the rising sticker price of a college education, although not necessarily along the precise contours of the Senate's proposal.

If it became law, Senate Bill 1443 would represent a dramatic turn in the Legislature's policy on tuition. Lawmakers granted university governing boards essentially unfettered authority six years ago to control charges.

Since then, tuition and fees have gone up 86 percent on average, to about $6,300 a year, feeding a steadily growing legislative appetite to reassert some degree of control. Precisely how much control is the question and a matter of potential disagreement with the House.

The Senate bill would reserve the strictest limits on tuition increases for the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas State University-San Marcos and other schools whose academic charges rank in the top half of the state's 35 public universities.

Beginning in fall 2010, such schools could raise their prices no more than enough to make up the difference between legislative appropriations and their expenses for academics, maintenance, utilities and other core operational costs as calculated by the Legislative Budget Board. But there's a catch: The schools could not increase charges by more than 5 percent or the inflation rate based on a three-year average of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less.

Schools charging below the median for public universities — such as UT-Tyler, Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Angelo State University — would not be limited by 5 percent or the inflation rate. However, they could not increase tuition and fees beyond the amount needed to make up any shortfall between appropriations and costs.

"Frankly, this is intended to pressure the Legislature to keep tuition down by funding higher education appropriately," said Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the primary author.

The bill would also set terms by which universities could opt to let students pay the same tuition for four or five years, depending on their degree programs. Some schools, such as UT-Dallas, already offer such arrangements.

Universities offering the four- or five-year guarantee would have no limits on how much they could charge entering students who sign up for it in the fall of this year. Subsequent entering freshmen opting for the guarantee could not be charged more than 5 percent above the previous year's price.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the bill will ensure that "all Texans who seek the unlimited opportunity higher education can provide will not be priced out of a world-class education."

It's unclear what sort of reception the bill will receive in the House, which has not voted a tuition-control proposal out of committee.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, said last month that he thinks lawmakers should be careful about capping increases, noting that "funding has to come from somewhere." The previous speaker, Tom Craddick, R-Midland, was instrumental in granting tuition authority to governing boards and resisting efforts to restrain that authority.

The House Higher Education Committee could approve the Senate bill with little or no change, but it's more likely that the measure will undergo surgery.

The panel's chairman, Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, has proposed a much simpler approach: limiting tuition increases to 3.95 percent or $280, whichever is greater. A proposal by Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, would cap tuition increases at 6 percent of the sum of tuition, fees and legislative appropriations.

Officials at many universities, including UT-Austin, prefer Rose's approach because it would preserve more of the governing boards' power to set tuition. The officials worry that, under the Senate bill, their institutions would lose ground in a period of high inflation. And even in a period of more typical inflation, around 3 percent, the Senate bill wouldn't provide for much advancement, university officials say.

Jason Cook, a spokesman for A&M, said A&M officials will study the Senate measure.

"While the 5 percent cap provides some much-needed tuition relief for students and their families now, the unknown is the long-term impact of this legislation, particularly as it relates to academic excellence, the uniqueness of research universities and the overall value of a Texas A&M degree," he said.

The Senate's action came four days after that chamber passed legislation intended to lift some universities into the realm of major national research institutions. Asked whether limiting tuition increases works against that goal, Zaffirini replied that she hopes lawmakers will increase appropriations.