The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - The Ohio State University board of trustees voted Friday to increase tuition 13.4 percent for the 2004-2005 school year, the university said.

For undergraduates admitted during the summer of 2003 and after, full-time tuition and general fees for the academic year will be $7,542, an increase of $891, the school said in a news release.

Students admitted between summer 2002 and spring 2003 will pay $879 more in tuition, or $7,446. Those admitted before summer 2002 will pay an additional $810, or $6,828.

University officials attributed the tuition increase to costs rising while state funding decreased.

The costs of financial aid, utilities, employee benefits and health insurance were increasing at a rate of between 5 and 6 percent a year, said William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance. Pay for faculty, staff and students went up as well, he said.

However, the percentage of the university's general funds budget funded by the state decreased from 43.3 percent in 2001 to an estimated 33.1 percent in 2005.

The increase approved Friday was the third double-digit increase in three years. Tuition for students who started at OSU last fall rose 15.4 percent compared with the year before. Students who began in fall 2002 paid 19 percent more than freshmen in 2001.

Shkurti told trustees that need-based financial aid will be increased proportionately to offset tuition and fee increases for lower income students.

In fiscal year 2004, 21 percent of all undergraduates received some form of grants, excluding loans, from the university. The university's financial aid costs were expected to increase 23 percent in the upcoming fiscal year, the news release said.