The UW Board of Regents met last week to discuss raising tuition next fall. In-state tuition would increase by 7 percent and out-of-state by 5 percent, the maximum tuition hike permitted by the state legislature for one year.

This means that next year, in-state students will pay $400 more and out-of-state tuition will be raised $1,100.

Tuition helps fund the UW’s budget, but the approval of the budget is pending and will be voted upon by the regents next month.

“Even with tuition increases we would consider aggressive — as would students, too — we are behind peer institutions in almost every tuition category,” said Gary Quarforth, interim vice provost for planning and budgeting.

In-state undergrads at the UW now pay $6,400 a year, as compared to $10,500 at the University of Michigan, which is the most expensive four-year public institution in the United States.

Some of the regents said that this disparity between the UW and other institutions may be an indicator that the UW is falling behind competitively because the University has less resources at its disposal.

Quarforth specifically mentioned that a portion of the budget would go toward attracting students and retaining faculty.

It was important for the budget to contain clearly identifiable improvements for students, said Dave Brown, the Graduate and Professional Student Senate president.

“Yeah, [students] are paying more, but what are they getting for it?” Brown said.

Also discussed was the need for the budget to contain provisions regarding counseling for “distressed” students. The number 685-SAFE, which was implemented after the Virginia Tech and Rebecca Griego shootings, will have permanent funding with the proposed budget.

“The proposed budget includes an increase in admissions office staff,” Quarforth said.

This year, the University had a record 20,000 freshman applications, 2,000 more than last year. With holistic review, two admissions office employees have to agree on acceptance, and if they don’t, a third is counseled. “This makes it difficult to get acceptance letters out to students in time,” he said.

Quarforth added that the UW has been slower in distributing financial aid to students as well. The budget includes increases in financial aid office staff.

The increasing size of the freshman class puts pressure on the College of Arts and Sciences, particularly bottleneck courses like introductory psychology, chemistry and math. The proposed budget will finance an increase in the number of TAs to provide more sections for students.

In addition to tuition hikes, students will also face a “drastic” increase in student fees because of the renovations of the Ethnic Cultural Center, the HUB and Hall Health, said ASUW president Tyler Dockins.

“There will be something like an increase of 200 percent,” Dockins said at the meeting.

Regent Jeffrey Brotman also said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to live in Seattle with high housing costs.

“I’m just worried that we’ll become as inaccessible as some other institutions are becoming,” law student Erin Lennon said.