ARDMORE Okla.

University of Oklahoma regents on Wednesday approved tuition and mandatory fee hikes of nearly 10 percent for undergraduate students who will attend the university during the upcoming school year.

On the recommendation of OU President David Boren, regents voted unanimously to raise tuition and mandatory fees for 30 credit hours by 9.7 percent for in-state students and 9.9 percent for out-of-state students. In-state students now will have to pay $5,607 for 30 hours, while those from outside Oklahoma will have to pay $14,721.

The percentage increase is the highest for OU since regents approved a 10.7 percent hike before the 2004-05 school year.

Regents also approved a $1.3 billion budget $713 million for OU's main campus in Norman and $632 million for the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.

Boren told regents the operating budget for the Norman campus would rise by $14.8 million during the upcoming fiscal year, which will begin Sunday, because of "costs beyond our control," including health insurance for employees, retirement benefits, utility bills, building insurance and information technology and maintenance expenses.

That, combined with an unexpected $1.2 million hit OU took this month thanks to a shortfall in state lottery funds meant the university needed $16 million in new state money to break even, Boren said. Instead, OU's state allocation rose by $4.2 million.

Boren didn't blame the Oklahoma Legislature, noting lawmakers drastically increased funding for higher education last year.

While explaining the rationale for the tuition and mandatory fee hikes, Boren also said OU plans three initiatives to help students who will be affected by the rising cost of higher education. First, OU will continue to cover the fees and provide a textbook allowance for students receiving scholarships through the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, he said.

OU also will continue aggressive fundraising for scholarships for students who come from middle-income families, Boren said. He said that a university scholarship campaign that began in March 2006 has raised $88 million and that 5,000 more scholarships have been awarded during that time.