The University of Maine System Board of Trustees approved an increase of in-state undergraduate tuition for the University of Maine of 5.9 percent and an overall system increase of 5.8 percent at its meeting Monday.

According to system Chancellor Richard Pattenaude, the system-wide tuition increase is the smallest in seven years. The 2002-’03 tuition increase was 4.7 percent, while the increases have ranged from 7.6 percent to 10.3 percent since then.

The increases come just three days after UMaine announced savings for fiscal year 2010 totaling $8.8 million.’The university presidents and I are extremely concerned about maintaining our universities’ affordability and quality,’ Pattenaude said in the release. ‘The new tuition rates are necessary to protect the quality and value of our educational offerings.’

UMaine’s $9,626 tuition represents 28 percent of Maine’s per capita personal income of $34,119. Of the New England public universities, UMaine is cheaper than all but the University of Rhode Island, but represents a higher percentage of the per capita personal income than all but the Universities of New Hampshire and Vermont.

UMaine projects an operating budget of $248 million next year.

UMaine is expected to suffer a 2.6 percent drop in enrollment for next year after four straight years of increases totaling 5.1 percent. UMaine is the only University of Maine System campus to increase enrollment over the past five years; overall the system’s enrollment has dropped 4.3 percent over the last five years.