CHRIS PEDOTA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Students let their feelings known before the vote on a tuition increase.

CHRIS PEDOTA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Rutgers graduate student Erik Straub challenges university President Robert Barchi and the board to not increase tuition.

Tuition and fees at Rutgers University, already one of the most expensive state universities in the country, will rise 3.3 percent this fall under a spending plan that is the first to reflect its merger with the states medical school.

The $3.6 billion budget for the 2013-14 school year that the Rutgers board of governors approved on Thursday reflects an increase of 61 percent over last years $2.2 billion spending plan, the last one the board approved before the university absorbed most of the debt-laden University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey on July 1.

Tuition and fees for undergraduates at the state university will average $13,499 for the 2013-14 school year. Room and board costs are up an average of 1.5 percent, according to Nancy Winterbauer, the universitys vice president for budgeting. Those charges vary depending on housing and meal plans but generally average $11,578, bringing the total cost of a Rutgers education for a resident student next year to more than $25,000.

The sticker price is not what most students pay at Rutgers, said Winterbauer, noting that about two-thirds of students receive some financial aid. She said the discounting brings the net price down by an average of more than $10,000.

Officials at Rutgers insist the estimated $76 million cost of the merger with UMDNJ wont be borne by students but, instead, will be paid for by deferring maintenance.

But some students and faculty members are skeptical that the costs stemming from the merger and recent controversies the universitys athletics department Rutgers spent more than $2 million in the spring to buy out its former mens basketball coach and athletic director after an abuse scandal wont be passed along to students.

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Despite protests, Rutgers board approves 3.3 percent hike in tuition and fees