Topeka ? As expected, the Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday put its seal of approval on steep tuition increases at state universities, including a 20.7 percent boost for state residents at Kansas University.

And as expected, members bashed Kansas legislators for putting regents in a position to require the increases.

“None of us on this board is pleased to be voting for increases of this magnitude,” said Regent Lew Ferguson of Topeka. “Some people in the Statehouse are so pleased when they can avoid a tax increase, yet this tuition increase is nothing less than a tax increase on the parents of students at universities.”

The tuition increases range from 9.8 percent at Fort Hays State University to 21.1 percent at Pittsburg State University.

At KU, a Kansas resident taking 15 hours of undergraduate credit per semester will pay $1,763.25 in tuition, which is 20.7 percent or $303 more per semester than during the 2002-2003 school year.

Out-of-state undergraduate students will pay $5,501.25 per semester, up 8.7 percent or $439.50 from last year.

Student fees at KU will increase from $281.50 to $287 for all undergraduates.

This is the second straight year for large tuition increases at state universities. The increases are part of a plan that would more than double tuition at KU by 2007.

But at least one regent indicated Thursday she might be hesitant to follow through with additional increases.

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“The trend is to shift away from state funds to where the burden is being borne by students,” said Donna Shank of Liberal. “I’m reluctant at a time with a bad economy, and the need for higher education is so much greater, to raise the cost. We have to stop and think how far we want to go down this road in the future.”

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said he thought the regents’ tuition process with a five-year plan that is reviewed annually was a good one.

“Each year, the university administration and students engage in a dialogue about tuition,” Hemenway said. “We review tuition in the context of the system and the context of the state budget picture.”

At KU, the increased tuition money raised $8.6 million during the last school year. That money was spent on technology enhancements, graduate teaching assistant salaries, school and departmental operating budgets, new faculty positions and other improvements.

KU officials also set aside 20 percent of the increase for need-based financial aid. They noted that the 2002-2003 tuition and fee rates were the third lowest of the 34 public universities that are members of the Association of American Universities, one of KU’s comparison groups.

Lindy Eakin, vice provost, said KU wasn’t using tuition money to replace holes left by state budget cuts, as some other state universities had.

“We’re able to tell students: We’re taking this money, setting it aside and doing enhancements with it,” he said. “I’m sure that’s a fine distinction to most people out there.”

Andy Knopp, KU student body president, said he thought students wouldn’t protest the increased tuition rates as long as they saw improvements at KU. He said new technology such as online enrollment would help reach that goal.

“It’s the same thing as last year,” he said. “Nobody likes to pay more, but students understand and appreciate the university’s commitment for using the funds for real enhancements that are important to us.”