A tuition increase of up to 4 percent affecting 117,000 students at the 14 state-owned universities could occur next fall under budgetary plans approved yesterday by the State System of Higher Education.

The State System's board of governors, meeting via conference call, approved an appropriation request for 2010-11 that asks the state for an increase of 3.8 percent, or $17.8 million, in campus aid.

The board also finalized the current 2009-10 spending plan for those 14 universities, which include California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock in Western Pennsylvania. The system's 2009-10 budget had been held up in Harrisburg until last month's state budget agreement between the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell.

The additional $17.8 million in aid that the State System is seeking, if approved by the governor and Legislature, would bring the State System's total appropriation for 2010-11 to $483 million, spokesman Kenn Marshall said. The system's operating budget is projected to total $1.5 billion.

The preliminary system budget for 2010-11 includes a 4 percent, or $222, increase in yearly tuition, which would bring the base in-state rate to $5,776, Mr. Marshall said.

He said that figure could change in the coming months as the annual state budget approval process unfolds.

"This is the first step," he said. "We have to submit an appropriation request to the governor's office."

He said the 4 percent figure reflects anticipated cost increases, including higher utility and health care expenses, and contractual agreements with the system's unions that call generally for pay raises of 4 percent plus incremental increases based on years of service.

The State System is getting $38.2 million this year, and likely next year, in federal stimulus money to offset a $54 million cut in state funding since 2008-09, officials said. But that stimulus aid will end in 2011, so officials will spend as little of it as possible on recurring programs to avoid becoming dependent on the aid, Chancellor John Cavanaugh said.

First Published: November 4, 2009, 5:00 a.m.