Undergraduate tuition is set to rise by 4.5 percent next academic year, bringing the cost of two semesters of instruction to $31,532.The $1,372 increase is part of the preliminary fiscal year 2006 budget approved by the Board of Trustees at its meeting held on campus last week.

The budget also includes a 4.5 percent increase in fees and room and board, as well as a proportional increase in undergraduate financial aid. Those increases will contribute to increases for faculty salaries, Ph.D student stipends, and library and technology upgrade funds.

Brandeis increased its tuition by four percent in the last fiscal year, and by six percent the fiscal year before.

An administration press release defended this year's increase, saying it "compares favorably" to tuition hikes at other institutions.

Boston College is increasing its tuition for the next academic year by 6.9 percent, Duke by 5.5 percent, and Johns Hopkins and Washington University by 4.9 percent, according to the press release.

"While it is true that increasing tuition would bring in more revenue to fund competing priorities, President [Jehuda] Reinharz and the trustees are committed to keeping annual tuition increases as low as possible," said Peter French, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

French said large tuition increases are higher in years when the University's endowment has been affected by downturns in the economy and additional revenue is required to balance the budget. He cited the six percent increase in 2004 as an example of this.

The approved preliminary budget also includes funds for priorities that stem from the integrated planning process, like the initiative spearheaded by Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe to provide more competitive faculty salaries and Ph.D. student stipends, French said.

Jaffe said the arts and sciences faculty budget will be increased by about $400,000 next year. When adjusted for pay disparities among academic disciplines, he said the salaries will meet the average median salaries of the American Association of Universities, a group Brandeis is a member of.

The total cost for this increase is about $500,000 due to the corresponding boost to faculty benefits. The additional $100,000 will come from the overall budget.

The budget for Ph.D. student stipends will rise about $300,000 in the first of two planned increases, according to Jaffe. He plans to make the final increase to that budget next year.

Jaffe said he is also promising entering Ph.D students stipends for five years, up from the current four-year limit.

3.5 percent of the faculty and staff salary budget will be used to award merit raises for faculty chosen by department heads, Dean Jaffe and Provost Marty Krauss.

The budget also includes $200,000 for funding library and technology upgrades.

According to French, costs of book purchases have continued to increase each year, and information technology infrastructure maintenance and improvements require regular funding increases to meet student and faculty demands.

Chief Information Officer Perry Hanson, who is in charge of this upgrade initiative, said he and his staff are planning for the best way to take advantage of the available funding.

"We will look at the most pressing needs that we can identify and then we will go to the library and technology advisory committee to tell us what they think of our proposal," Hanson said.

According to French, the administration is also committed to upgrading residence halls.

"While we are not at the point yet of 'here's the plan,' it's on the top of our list, along with the arts and science salary plan and the new arts building," French said.

French said the trustees will approve the final budget in October. Some "fine tuning" of the budget may be necessary depending on specific circumstances, including enrollment numbers, he said. This, he said, happens every year.