Tuition will be 5.8 percent higher this year, although a last-minute infusion of state cash kept it from going up even more.

Officials were warning of a nearly 11 percent tuition increase in May, when it looked like legislators would allocate less than 70 percent of the $123 million requested for the OU Norman campus by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

When state lawmakers met in June, however, they reached a compromise that allocated a record of more than $1 billion to universities and colleges in Oklahoma. OU is slated to get a total of $243 million, including $136 million for the Norman campus.

The OU Board of Regents set tuition at $100.20 per credit hour for Oklahoma residents when it met June 28 to set the budget for the 2007 fiscal year. That's $4.80 per credit hour more than the $95.40 students paid in fiscal 2006.

The university's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, so the 2007 fiscal year will correspond with the 2006-2007 academic year.

"This will be the lowest percentage increase in nine years," said OU President David L. Boren. "The increase for this year will keep us near the bottom of the Big 12 in student costs."

A full-time resident undergraduate taking 15 credit hours each semester can expect to pay $5,109.50 in tuition and mandatory fees this year, while an undergraduate non-resident taking the same schedule will pay $13,398.50.

The non-resident tuition rate is $276.30 per credit hour.

Resident graduate students will pay $132.50 per credit hour, and resident law students will pay $339.95 per credit hour. Non-resident graduate students will be charged $340.30 per credit hour, while non-resident law students will pay $330.95 per credit hour.

There will be no new mandatory fees for Norman students this year.

State law requires resident undergraduate tuition and fees at OU and Oklahoma State University to remain less than the combined average for the other state-supported members of the Big 12. State law also mandates that graduate and professional tuition and fee rates remain lower than the combined average of costs for like programs at comparable state institutions.

"Even with these recommended increases, the University of Oklahoma expects to remain near the bottom of the Big 12 in total direct costs for undergraduate attendance," a report prepared for the OU Board of Regents said.

Still, the report notes the university is increasing the number of need-based tuition waivers by the same percentage as the increase in tuition.

The Sooner Heritage Scholarship program will also continue into its third year, the report said, and an online process has been developed to advertise the scholarship program and solicit applications.

Rates for contracts with OU Housing and Food Services were also approved by the OU Board of Regents at their June meeting.

Rates for both housing and food will go up by 6 percent in all campus facilities except Traditions Square.

"The combined rate increase proposed for room and board is below the 6.1 percent Higher Education Price Index," according to the report.

There will be no increase this year at Traditions Square.

In addition to describing the rate increase, the report also notes that newly renovated rooms at Adams Center and Couch Center will be ready for move-in.

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