BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota lawmakers are considering a pair of proposals that would freeze tuition at the state’s colleges but at a steep cost to taxpayers.
 
     North Dakota’s university system has six four-year universities and five two-year colleges. Data show the state’s two-year colleges at Bismarck, Bottineau, Devils Lake, Wahpeton and Williston are more expensive than their regional counterparts. The state’s four-year universities are less expensive than their regional counterparts.
 
     House Bill 1043 would prohibit raising tuition at the two-year colleges through 2017. Taxpayers would have to make up the difference, at a cost of more than $2.5 million.
 
     House Bill 1233 would prohibit raising tuition at all schools until 2017, at a cost of almost $30 million to residents.
 
     The House Appropriations Committee took no action on the bills Monday.