The Tennessee Board of Regents approved Friday, June 29, a tuition increase starting with the fall semester at the 46 state higher education institutions it governs.

The board, which governs all state universities except the University of Tennessee system, approved tuition and fee rate increases between 3.4 percent and 7.2 percent during a meeting at Southwest Tennessee Community College.

The tuition hike includes rates at the University of Memphis, which will go up 7 percent. The in-state rates for students at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law will increase 7.3 percent with the fall semester.

Students at Southwest Tennessee Community College will see a tuition increase of 4.8 percent. And tuition at the Tennessee Technology Centers, including the one in Memphis, will go up 6.2 percent per trimester.

University of Memphis President Dr. Shirley Raines noted state funding to the U of M has been cut $41.7 million in the past four years with another $1.8 million in funding cuts for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“It is unfortunate that our students must continue to bear the responsibility for closing the gap in state funding and our funding requirements,” Raines said Friday in a written statement.

Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan said as state funding has declined, enrollment at the college and universities has gone up.

“It is never easy to ask a student to pay more year after year,” Morgan said. “Today’s actions reflect an unfortunate but expected continued shift of funding responsibility from the state to our students.”

The highest percentage increase across the Regents system was the 7.2 percent tuition hike at East Tennessee State University. The lowest increase was 3.4 percent at Austin Peay State University.