Tuition and fees will increase 4 percent for in-state students and 6 percent for out-of-state students under Rutgers U’s 2010-2011 budget, passed Thursday by the Board of Governors.

Tuition for full-time, in-state undergraduate students, in accordance with a 4 percent tuition cap passed in the state budget, will increase to $9,926 from $9,546. For full-time, out-of-state undergraduate students who were not covered by the cap, tuition will increase to $21,388 from $20,178.

Though admittedly tough for students, University President Richard L. McCormick said the increases were necessary with the state’s decade-plus long disinvestment in higher education, including this year’s 15 percent decrease in state aid to the University.

“This year’s difficult budget situation will require all members of the Rutgers community to work together to maintain our commitments to high-quality teaching, research and service to the people of New Jersey,” McCormick said.

Students living on campus can expect to see a 4.8 to 5.2 percent increase in housing costs and a 5.5 to 6.9 percent increase in meal plans under the new budget. All together, an in-state student living on campus this year could pay $23,465 to attend the University.

Jonathan Nycz, a School of Engineering senior and non-voting member on the Board of Governors, said the increases will be tough for students — many of whom he knows are having a hard time finding work this summer.

“The tough economic times are not just being felt by the University,” Nycz said.

But with the tuition increases, the Board of Governors also allocated an additional $3.5 million in student financial aid, which University officials say will help to ensure the University remains accessible to a broad range of New Jersey residents.

Yet even with the increases in tuition and fees, Nancy Winterbauer, vice-president for University Budgeting, said the University’s units have been asked to prepare plans for further cuts, which could be coming soon.

“This is a very tight budget that will still require cuts and painful actions on the part of the University,” she said.

The Board of Governor’s meeting was preceded by a rally of an estimated 300 University workers, protesting the school’s recently instituted salary freeze, which McCormick said is necessary to reduce the impact of the state funding cuts and stave off more devastating effects to the University.

Yet the protestors comprised of workers from the Rutgers Council of American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers, Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers, and AFSCME Locals 888 and 1761, claim the freeze is a breach of contract, violating the terms of a salary deferral agreement made last year.

Not honoring the agreed upon raises means that many members will struggle to survive, said Mike Holland, president of AFSCME Local 888, comprised of maintenance and janitorial workers.

“Most of us in 888 have two jobs just to afford to live in New Jersey,” Holland, a carpenter who has worked at the University for 21 years, said. “We are not trying to rob anyone; we are just trying to survive.”

Several union activists also attended the meeting, packing the back of Winants Hall on the College Avenue campus with signs like “Jersey Roots, Contract Breach” and chanting “Shame on you!” with each budget resolution passed.

Lucye Millerand, president of the URA-AFT Local 1766, said she believes the contract breach represents an ethics violation for the University and believes the motives for the freeze are more than economic.

“We’ve seen no hard evidence of fiscal exigency; we’ve seen no austerity plan for anything but salaries,” she said. “We believe this is a strategic decision to shred collective bargaining at Rutgers [and] convince a demoralized workforce that they serve at the pleasure of management.”

John Aspray, a School of Arts of Sciences senior and Rutgers University Student Assembly representative, also spoke at the meeting, challenging the board to pay for its workers and increase its budget transparency.

“If the money is not going to those who actually operate the University, where is the money going?” he said.