With revenue from the state projected at falling by $2.6 million for the University next year, officials know that an increase in tuition and fees will be necessary. But according to Chris Dalton, senior vice president for finance and administration, tuition and fees increases shouldn’t equal the state’s cap of 9.9 percent.

The Board of Trustees will approve next year’s budget as well as tuition and fee rates at their meeting on Friday.

According to Dalton, increases should be “in the middle of the pack,” near the 8-8.9 percent range.

With state funding for universities dropping by 25 percent since 2000, attempting to balance the budget has become more complicated, Dalton said.

“It’s obviously made planning for next year more difficult,” he said. “It creates pressure to decrease spending on one hand and increase fees on the other. It’s always difficult to balance the need to maintain access, on the one hand and quality on the other. You’ve got to retain quality faculty and staff, but to do all that you have to keep up with salary increases.”