HUNTSVILLE (AP) — The University of Alabama system is proposing a freeze on in-state tuition at all three campuses for the upcoming school year after decades of steady price hikes.

The system announced the recommendation Friday during a meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The move would mean tuition remains the same next year at UAH, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the main University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa.

Tuition has gone up as much as 7% on the campuses over the past decade, with UAB leading the increases, according to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. The 54% boost in tuition at the Tuscaloosa campus over the past 10 years is the smallest of any four-year college in the state, statistics show.

The newly named chancellor of the system, Finis St. John, said the freeze on in-state tuition would be the first time in 40 years that all three campuses haven’t hiked costs for Alabama residents.

“We hear the needs of our students and their families, and we will continue to make their concerns our highest priority in the months and years ahead,” said St. John, a one-time trustee who previously served as interim chancellor.

St. John said he expected a “modest increase” in tuition for out-of-state students. Trustees will consider the system recommendation at a meeting in June.

The Alabama system has more than 70,000 students at its three campuses.