Topeka ? The price of an education at Kansas University and all the regents schools would go up this fall semester under a proposal before the Kansas Board of Regents.

KU has proposed increasing tuition and required fees from $4,012 to $4,234, a $222 or 5.5 percent increase for an undergraduate taking 15 hours. The tuition for a non-Kansas resident would increase from $9,504 to $10,179, a $675 increase or 7.1 percent.

Graduate students would face a 5.5 percent increase for residents and 5.9 percent for non-residents.

Tuition and fees under the KU Compact — first-time, degree-seeking freshman — which would be fixed for four years would increase from $4,366 to $4,611, or $245, which is a 5.6 percent increase. Non-resident students would see an increase from $10,769 to $11,304, or 5 percent.

The regents will hear the proposals on Thursday and vote on them in June.

KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said the increases are driven by budget cuts and demand from students to continue to improve the university.

“Students are very much in favor of trying to maintain excellence,” Gray-Little said.

Students at KU Medical Center would see a 4.9 percent increase.

Because of the KU Compact, 65 percent of returning undergraduates would have no tuition increase, according to KU officials.

The increased tuition and fees would generate approximately $14 million in additional revenue, according to a memo from KU submitted to the regents.

The additional revenue would go toward retaining faculty and staff, covering mandated cost increases and increasing the availability of high-demand classes.

“We are facing a growing crisis when it comes to retaining excellent employees,” said Gray-Little. “Private university endowments have recovered, giving them and public universities in faster-growing states the ability to recruit away our top faculty members. If we are going to give our students the high-quality education they expect, we must be able to compete.”

All the regents schools were seeking increases. For a resident undergraduate, the increase at Kansas State would be 3.8 percent; Wichita State, 5.1 percent; Emporia State, 6.8 percent; Pittsburg State, 6.5 percent; and Fort Hays State, 3.6 percent.