CRANSTON – In a move that is “virtually unprecedented,” the R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education last night voted to raise fees at the state’s public colleges starting this spring. A second increase, of 10 percent overall, was approved for next fall.

“Regrettably, the board did pass tuition increases for the spring semester, which is virtually unprecedented,” Jack Warner, the state’s commissioner of higher education, told Providence Business News in a telephone interview today. “I think the board only did that one other time, during the big banking crisis.”

Deep cuts in state aid – amounting to $29.6 million this year alone, or 16.4 percent, of the state’s $180 million aid package for the 2007-2008 school year – left the board with no choice, he said.

“We knew we were going to suffer a big decrease in state support,” Warner said. The Board of Governors already had raised fees and trimmed staff at the state’s public colleges in anticipation of the $17.8 million in aid cuts contained in the initial Rhode Island budget proposal for fiscal 2009.

“But since July 1, we’re faced with another $12.8 million in either cuts or assessments contained in the budget, and that has led us to project that without an infusion – either a supplemental appropriation at midyear or an increase in tuitions and fees – we won’t be able to end the year in the black.”

The spring-semester increase is tentative, he added. It includes “a call for re-evaluation … probably in early December,” when the state issues its mid-year revenue forecast. “If we have a chance for the supplemental [appropriation], we won’t enact the fee increase,” Warner said. He acknowledged, however, that “most people would say the state’s economic situation is not improving.”

Asked how the planned fee increases might affect enrollment, Warner replied: “It’s always hard to say. In this economy – there’s a trickle-down effect.”

Given the current higher tuitions, economic uncertainty and difficulty in obtaining a loan, “Families that might have sent their children – or they themselves – [to] a private institution” now might choose to attend a public college or university, he said.

In fact, Warner added, “the Community College [of Rhode Island] has 17,600 students this year” – about 3.5 to 4 percent more than last year – “that’s a record enrollment for them. They always get more students in a down economy,” he said.

“What we fear, of course, is that low-income students will get crowded out because financial aid is cut. … You want to preserve affordability [for] students of modest income. … Unfortunately, they will find it very difficult,” Warner said.

For the spring semester, in-state students will see the tab at the University of Rhode Island (URI) rise $250, a 6.7-percent increase compared with the current semester. Rhode Island College (RIC) students face an increase of $200, or 8.2 percent. Students at Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) face the same hike of $200, but for them, that represents a 14.3-percent increase.

For the 2009-2010 school year, URI students can expect to see in-state tuition and fees rise $850, or 9.9 percent, to $9,528, while out-of-state tuition rises 5 percent to $26,026. Room and board would rise 5.6 percent to $10,636.

At RIC, in-state tuition and fees are set to rise $547, or 9.5 percent, to $6,318, while out-of-state tuition rises 6.3 percent to $15,398. Room and board would rise 6.7 percent to an average of $9,054.

And at CCRI, in-state tuition and fees would rise $286, or 9.3 percent, to $3,376.

The R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education, based in the Hazard Building in Cranston, oversees the state’s public colleges and universities: the University of Rhode Island (URI), Rhode Island College (RIC) and Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). It also oversees college prep programs. Additional information is available at www.ribghe.org.