UMass trustees raise student costs

DARTMOUTH, Mass. --University of Massachusetts trustees voted Wednesday to raise student costs for the fifth consecutive year.

In a meeting at the university's Dartmouth campus, the officials voted a 3.4 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees.

The raise amounts to a $317 hike for students attending the flagship campus in Amherst, where tuition and fees for the 2006-07 school year would be $9,595.

The cost of attending the Boston campus will be $8,546, while students at UMass-Lowell will pay $8,444 and students at the Dartmouth campus will pay $8,309.

While some students have said the increase is too high, UMass president Jack Wilson said the university is keeping the hike below the 3.6 percent rate of inflation.

Officials say the university system needs more money to pay for new professors, technology upgrades and building repairs and upkeep.