POSTED: 4:40 pm MST December 6, 2007

PHOENIX --

Tuition at the three state universities are rising above $5,000 annually for most in-state resident undergraduates but two of the schools plan limits on future increases.

The Arizona Board of Regents on Thursday approved tuition and fees proposed by the universities for the 2008-2009 school year after rejecting a counterproposal to rescind the increases if the Legislature raise state funding substantially.

The increases generally raise total annual tuition and fees for in-state resident undergraduates at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona to varying levels between roughly $5,100 and $5,700. Total rates for Yuma and Sierra Vista outposts of Northern Arizona and the University of Arizona, respectively, will stand at approximately $4,800.

Percentage increases for in-state undergraduates range between about 8 percent and about 14 percent, varying by school and whether students are new or returning.

Increases also were approved for graduate students and nonresident undergraduates as well as surcharges for specific programs.

A few changes were made to the universities' plans. A new $150 mandatory

activity fee for ASU students was reduced to $50, and requirements to .

The university presidents said their institutions need the extra money that the tuition and fee increases would provide to improve the universities as well as student life and well-being.

"This tuition proposal will not rob us of our affordability but it will enable us to maintain our quality," said UofA President Robert Sheldon. "We want your diplomas to stand for something when you hang them on the wall."

The Arizona Students' Association had called for increased state funding for the universities and a full freeze on tuition rates, and dozens of students clad in blue "freeze tuition" attended the meeting to oppose the proposed hikes.

The students quietly filed out of the meeting room after the board votes that followed about two hours of debate.

Before the meeting, NAU freshman Brianna Bedard from Anthem said it'd better to spread the rising cost for higher education in small increments to many taxpayers rather than relatively few students and families.

"We need more money. We need more funding," said Beddard, a criminal justice-psychology double-major who added that she had taken out a private loan "with a lot of interest."

ASU and NAU will have limits on future increases.NAU's tuition -- but not fees -- would remain at the approved level for three additional years to provide certainty on affordability for students and their families.

"We commit to offering the courses they need to graduate in four years," said NAU President John Haeger.ASU's plan calls for increasing tuition for continuing in-state undergraduates by 5 percent for each of five years after admission as a freshman.

Paul Allvin, a UofA associate vice president, said the Tucson-based university previously examined the idea of providing multiyear predictability of tuition rates but decided it was too risky because of the uncertainty of state funding.

Regent Dennis DeConcini tried unsuccessfully to hinge the tuition increases to increased state funding. The board rejected his motion to automatically erase the tuition increases if the Legislature boosts university appropriations by 17 percent.

The burden for increasing costs should be on the state's taxpayers, not students and their families, said DeConcini, a former U.S. senator.

Regent Gary Stuart opposed the linkage as an abdication of the regents' constitutional duty to set tuition, and Regent Ernest Calderon said the state's poor budget situation effectively preclude a substantial increase in appropriations for the universities.

"I don't think it's humanly possible," Calderon said.