BANGOR – The University of Maine System, citing the need to protect academic quality and pay for unavoidable cost increases at the seven campuses, is proposing a 7.8 percent average increase in tuition and fees for in-state students beginning in September.

Tuition and fees for out-of-state students would increase by 9.3 percent on average, based on a proposal UMS Chancellor Joseph Westphal presented Wednesday to a UMS finance and facilities committee composed of trustees, faculty and students.

If the hike is approved by the UMS board of trustees at its June 6 meeting, it would be the first time in the state’s history that students in the public university system would be expected to pay more than the state does for higher education.

“This is a watershed moment in which, unfortunately, the burden for public higher education has officially shifted to students and their families,” UMS spokesman John Diamond said Wednesday.

For more than 15 years, the amount of state support has been steadily dropping, and that has forced trustees and the chancellor to turn to tuition increases to maintain quality of academic programs and services, he said.

Meanwhile, the university system’s fixed expenses have increased considerably, in large part because of spikes in health insurance. Since 2002, the cost of providing employee health insurance has risen 87.3 percent, or $25.4 million, according to the system office.

“It is painful for all of us to raise tuition at a time when Maine people are finding it difficult to deal with the economic situation all around,” Chancellor Westphal said in an interview after the meeting. To compensate for the increase, much of the tuition revenue and state appropriation money will be used for financial aid, he said.

“But that only helps the most needy,” he pointed out. “It doesn’t help a lot of middle class [students] who don’t qualify. And it allows for less operating money, which is what we need to pay faculty and run our programs. It’s a Catch-22.”

Under the chancellor’s proposal, annual tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates at the University of Maine would increase next fall by 8 percent, or $516, over the previous year; University of Maine at Augusta, 7 percent, or $330; University of Maine at Farmington, 7.6 percent, or $391; University of Maine at Fort Kent, 7.3 percent, or $330; University of Maine at Machias, $330, or 7.3 percent; University of Maine at Presque Isle, 8 percent, or $360; and University of Southern Maine, 6.9 percent, or $363.

But even with the proposed increase, the University of Maine would still have the lowest in-state tuition among New England land-grant universities, according to UMS Chief Financial Officer Joanne Yestramski.

The university system also is considering raising fees for room and board by an average of 5.5 percent, which would make the University of Maine second lowest in the region, behind the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Yestramski said.

Reasons for the room and board increase include: higher operating costs, particularly those related to energy; the expense of improved supervision, staffing and safety in residential halls; and the costs of building maintenance and furniture and fixture replacements.

While the cost of operating the public universities has increased over the last several years, the amount of money the state has provided to subsidize the university system has grown at a much smaller pace, Diamond said.

Over the years, the proportion of the UMS budget from tuition and fees has steadily increased while the state appropriation has represented a dwindling percentage of the budget.

The state needs to invest more in higher education, according to the chancellor. It should be a much higher priority, particularly given situations like we’ve just encountered with base closings, he said.

“It’s really important to give not only our student population but our adult population a real opportunity to get an education and to continue their education.”

In 1990, tuition and fees comprised 26 percent of the total UMS budget, while the state appropriation was 67.5 percent. Tuition and fees rose to 34 percent of the total UMS budget in 1995 and to 39.5 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, the state appropriation has decreased from 56.3 percent of the total budget in 1995 to 39.7 percent in 2005.

Based on the proposed budget to be discussed at the June meeting of the UMS board of trustees, tuition and fees would amount to 40.4 percent of a total $432.1 million budget, while the state appropriation would be 39.9 percent. The rest of the money comes from revenue from goods and services such as sales from tickets to sporting and cultural events, books and food, as well as from research grants and contracts.

Some uncertainty surrounds the proposed UMS budget, Westphal pointed out. Since trustees may approve the plan before the Legislature has finished its process, it’s not clear whether cuts to academic programs will be needed or how the system will deal with the existing deficit, he said.

State appropriations haven’t been nearly enough to offset the increased costs of health care insurance and other fixed costs, and so the university system has had to turn to tuition in order to balance the budget, Diamond said. Since 2003, the average tuition systemwide has increased 21.3 percent, he said.

Tuition is always looked at as a last resort, officials said. The idea is to “use every other opportunity, and that includes cutting back on programs and services as well as seeking more private and public funding,” Diamond said.

During the last 15 years there has been a significant change in the ratio between state support and tuition increases, according to the UMS spokesman. While the ratio used to be $2 of state support for every $1 of tuition, it’s now one to one.

As state support as a percentage of UMS’ overall budget has dropped, student and family support has had to increase. Based on the chancellor’s proposal, the upcoming academic year would be the first time those two lines have intersected, Diamond said.