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Additionally, the board voted to raise tuition for new students — Oregon residents and nonresidents — by 5.15%. That move is in line with the university’s tuition model that limits rate increases for continuing students, while raising them for incoming undergraduates.

The rate hike comes amid an uncertain budget outlook for OSU, with members citing the Pac-12 conference collapse, rising labor costs and, most recently, the delayed rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid of FAFSA, as contributing factors.

The University Budget Committee, the advisory body charged with recommending tuition and mandatory fee changes to the president, had recommended a 7.05% increase for returning students and a 7.55% for incoming undergraduates, citing a need to maintain the university’s service levels amid rising costs.

President Jayathi Murthy opted for the body’s smaller 4.65% proposal.

Part of the rationale for the lower rate, according to Vice President Mike Green and other finance and administration officials, was the need to abide by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, which must sign off on any average tuition increase above 5%.

In addition to tuition increases, which include a 2% increase for graduate students, the board also approved increases in mandatory student fees, such as building and health services fees.

One of the biggest jumps was for counseling and psychological services, with a hike of 10.99% at the university’s Corvallis campus.

According to Brent Gustafson, OSU’s associate vice president for budget and resource planning, the increase stems from an increased demand for counseling staff, and the need to offer competitive compensation amid heightened cost pressures.

OSU’s student government, which has the power to set incidental fees that support engagement and other on-campus services like the Family Resource Center and intercollegiate sports, moved to hike up its own rates by 4.27%. The board voted to approve the Corvallis campus’s proposed increase.

OSU’s Cascades campus in Bend, on the other hand, voted to decrease its summer incidental fees by 35%.