OKLAHOMA CITY

The Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents will consider a proposal Friday that would increase tuition and mandatory fee rates for students at Oklahoma State University's Stillwater campus by almost 10 percent for the 2007-08 school year.

That would be the most significant tuition and fee hike for students attending Oklahoma State's main campus since the 2003-04 school year, when rates increased almost 24 to 29 percent.

Regents will also consider approving an $824 million budget proposal during a regularly scheduled meeting at OSU's Tulsa campus.

During the previous school year, in-state students paid $4,996.80 in tuition and mandatory fees for 30 credit hours, while out-of-state students paid $13,569.30. The proposed rates for the coming school year are $5,491.20 and $14,915.70, an increase of 9.89 percent and 9.92 percent, respectively.

OSU spokesman Gary Shutt said he could not comment on the proposal until after it has been voted on by regents.

Last year, OSU increased tuition and fees by 6.8 percent, following a 7.2 percent increase before the 2005-06 school year. Prior to the 2004-05 school year, OSU's Stillwater tuition and fees rose by 8.6 percent.

The steeper increase now proposed comes after the Oklahoma Legislature did not fulfill a request by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to increase funding for the state's higher education system by $171 million for the coming fiscal year, which will start July 1. The Legislature instead appropriated $80 million in additional money.

College presidents, including OSU interim President Marlene Strathe, had warned of the possibility of higher tuition increases if sufficient state funding was not appropriated.

In April, Strathe noted that after state appropriations, "our most obvious revenue source is tuition. It's really our hope that we can keep tuition increases to a minimum. But that's heavily dependent on state appropriations."

- Associated Press