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By Peter Cox, Minnesota Public Radio News

Students on the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses of the University of Minnesota will see a 3.5 percent tuition increase this fall.

The university’s board of regents Monday approved the higher tuition as part of a $4.5 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

The budget also includes 1 percent tuition hikes at the Duluth, Morris and Crookston campuses.

Myron Frans, the senior vice president for finance and operations for the university, said that the school currently is in a stable financial position, despite recent headwinds.

“We did have several unanticipated challenges this last year, one of them being the tuition revenue shortfall that we experienced,” he said. “And another obviously is dealing with inflation like all businesses and colleges and universities have to deal with.”

Enrollment has fallen at the Duluth, Morris, Rochester and Crookston campuses in the last few years, while it has remained stable at the Twin Cities campus. Declining higher education enrollment is part of a nationwide trend.

As the board approved the tuition increases, university officials pointed to the increased funding for student aid by the state and federal governments.

“The tuition rate changes for resident undergraduate students will be more than offset for those eligible by the increases in the state grant program and Pell,” said U budget director Julie Tonneson, who noted the additional funding could help with room and board fees, too.

The Minnesota Legislature boosted funding for a grant program this year. Lawmakers also approved a program that will pay tuition at state schools for families who make less than $80,000 a year.