The Northern Kentucky University Board of Regents approved a 13.7 percent tuition increase for the 2005-06 school year May 4.

In-state undergraduates will pay $600 more for tuition this upcoming year – a rise from $4,368 to $4,968. Of Kentucky’s eight public universities, NKU will have the fourth-highest tuition rate.

Seven and a half percent of the total increase will be going toward commitments that will not be renewed in the following years: the new student union and sustaining academic quality and capacity. The rest of the increase will go toward “increased operating expenses,” according to Chris Cole, director of media relations.

“I am not happy about raising tuition,” NKU President James Votruba said in a statement. “But I have a responsibility to our current students and our future students to sustain our momentum.”

Votruba said he could have gotten away with not raising the tuition this year, but decided against it because of the sacrifices involved. “I could come before the Board and say I’m not raising tuition this year and then fit 100 students into every classroom on campus,” he said. “But I’m simply not willing to make that sacrifice.”

Votruba said the tuition increase will not be as significant in the future, and should be in the single digits.