Although seven of the eight Wayne State U. Board of Governors members voted Wednesday for a 4.4 percent undergraduate tuition increase effective fall 2010, one familiar face voted against it: Chair Richard Bernstein.

Bernstein, who requested a roll call format for the tuition increase vote, was the dissenter against the increase.

It was the seventh time in Bernstein’s eight years on the board that he voted against a tuition increase, according to Wayne State President Jay Noren, who said the only time Bernstein voted for one was last year.

“I just think that what it really comes down to, for me, is what the mission and emphasis of the institution should be,” Bernstein said. “I think Wayne is just this extraordinary place with the most incredible students who work harder than any other institutional students would because they’re working in order to get themselves through school.”

Noren said he understood Bernstein’s stance on the issue but said it wasn’t a feasible plan.

“Gov. Bernstein has — as a matter of principle — opposed tuition increases at any time,” Noren said. “He just has a philosophical belief that higher education should be available to everybody at no cost — it’s just not realistic in these times.”

Gov. Paul Massaron said it came down to hard finances and budget restraints.

“We sought as best we could to deal with the issue of affordability,” Massaron said.

Bernstein acknowledged the sides of the other governors and Noren.

“I understand there are arguments to the other side as to quality,” Bernstein said. “I totally can appreciate that. But I think there should be an intensive emphasis placed on the fact that these are working students who are sacrificing so much to go to school.”

Bernstein said he thinks tuition should align itself with the cost of living.

“When you exceed inflation,” he said, “I worry that education is becoming more and more out of reach … and as a result, it’s going to be completely inaccessible.

“I think that we’ve reached a point now in higher education where … students are pushed beyond what they can do,” Bernstein said.

He added that the tuition plan — which was originally presented as a flat 5.4 percent increase for undergraduates, then modified to a 4.4 percent increase in fall 2010 and an additional 2 percent jump beginning with the spring/summer 2011 semester — was a “hard-fought compromise.” (The graduate tuition increase was set at 4.9 percent, with no additional increase next summer.)

Bernstein, along with other board members, said this year’s decision on tuition was one of the most difficult in recent years due to the continued economic state, which has also resulted in cuts for higher education.

“I think this has been the most difficult decision I’ve made since I’ve been on the Board of Governors,” Gov. Debbie Dingell said.