Colorado will have to make tradeoffs if it hopes to avert a tuition hike for the state’s public universities next year, Gov. Jared Polis told state budget-writers Wednesday.

It was Polis’ first public meeting with state budget-writers since he sent them his 2020-21 budget request Nov. 1, and he received generally good feedback.

Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, a Democrat of Arvada, said there’s “a lot of things that I think are great” in the governor’s budget request, but she pressed Polis on the fact that his proposal calls for an average tuition increase of 3% for institutions of higher learning.

Polis joined university and community college presidents Tuesday in publicly committing to solving the problem of skyrocketing costs.

“I’m concerned,” said Zenzinger, who is a teacher by trade, “that, given the great work that was unveiled yesterday around tackling the cost of higher education, that any budget we’re putting forward where we’re entertaining 3% increases in tuition is, to me, problematic.”

Polis doesn’t disagree. Over the past decade Colorado’s public colleges and universities have seen an overall tuition increase of more than 65%, according to the Department of Higher Education, and the governor said Tuesday that this trend is “out of control.”

In order to keep tuition flat, Polis told Zenzinger, “that’s just a matter of trading off against things that are also in the budget.”

He argued that Colorado is better served to put money into specific programs meant to reduce the burden of high tuition costs, such as student loan repayment, and scholarship and apprenticeship funds. Two-thirds of Colorado residents who graduated from college did so with debt, according to the governor’s office, and the average debtor owed $20,856.

“We believe it has a higher impact when it’s targeted,” Polis said. “With the limited resources we have, that may be a more data-driven and effective way to reduce the cost” than by simply lowering or maintaining tuition rates.

The governor’s budget request calls for an overall increase of $26 million for operating costs and financial aid for higher education, which would bring Colorado close to $150 million in that category next year.

According to a study by Illinois State University, state government support for higher education has grown more in Colorado over the past five years than in any other state.