NKU tuition for Kentucky residents, who are 71 percent of the school’s undergraduates, currently is $2,976 a semester, or $248 a semester hour. Tuition will increase by different amounts for Ohio and Indiana residents.

NKU officials said they need the increase because of insufficient funding from the state. The increase, which will add at least $288 a semester for a full-time student, or $24 a credit hour, is necessary because of about $3 million in state budget cuts next year and the costs of operating the new student union and the Bank of Kentucky Center after they open this summer, NKU President James Votruba said.

On a per-student basis, NKU receives less money than any other public university in Kentucky, including the community- and technical-college system.