CASTINE – Students at Maine Maritime Academy will see a boost in what they pay for tuition next year.

In an unusual split vote on Friday, the board of trustees reluctantly voted to increase the tuition rate by a little less than 7 percent. The recommendation for a tuition hike came from the board’s finance committee which had determined the increase would need to be close to 7 percent to meet the needs of the budget for the coming year.

The committee’s chair, trustee Susan Clark, pointed out the increase was driven by a number of factors over which the academy has little control, such as state and federal funding, which has remained relatively static, the cost of energy, and existing contractual commitments including benefits. In addition, Clark noted that the trustees had earlier mandated creating new faculty and staff positions.

“We were at the point where we had to look at an increase in tuition,” she said.

The proposed budget for the 2006-07 academic year will be slightly more than $23 million, an increase of approximately 5.9 percent above the current year’s budget, according to Richard Ericson, MMA’s vice president for finance, administration and governmental affairs.

A full 7 percent increase would add about $446 to the current in-state tuition of $6,380; $670 to the regional tuition rate; and $861 to the out-of-state tuition.

In addition, Ericson said room and board and other college fees likely would increase at different levels, generally based on the college’s costs to run them.

Trustees initially balked at the level of increase. Former board Chairman William Haggett said he was troubled by the proposed increase, which comes on the heels of a tuition hike last year and at a time when the cost of borrowing for education is increasing. Haggett suggested an increase of about 5 percent, which is closer to the rate of inflation, would be more acceptable.

“Keeping Maine Maritime Academy affordable has to be a high priority,” he said.

Board Chairman Ward Graffam said that some students will leave MMA owing as much as $98,000, an indication that they are borrowing almost their entire college costs. He suggested that the board set a lower increase and then work to raise additional funds to offset the difference before the trustees vote on the budget in April.

Based on Ericson’s estimates, the board would need to raise an additional $150,000 in revenues to lower the tuition increase from just below 7 percent to about 5 percent.

“We can consider revising the motion so that we do not exceed 5 percent and take it upon ourselves to come up with that $150,000,” Graffam said. “We can find a way to come up with that money.”

Ericson, however, cautioned the board against building a budget based on the hope of additional funding, or on one-time funding.

“It has to be a dependable source that will continue,” Ericson said.

Trustees approved the tuition increase with the “less than 7 percent” level, and agreed to seek additional funding. They also discussed additional measures to ensure against regular tuition increases. With federal funding remaining level since the late 1980s and state funding actually decreasing this year, trustees indicated they needed to look for new revenue sources.

Trustee Paul Rich suggested an increased effort to encourage annual giving by the college’s alumni to help offset operational costs. Although President Leonard Tyler indicated that administrators make regular efforts to contact alumni, he agreed more could be done, including working with the MMA Alumni Association.

Trustee Victoria Larson also suggested that the board review the rules that govern the college’s investments to determine if they could be changed in order give MMA more flexibility in investing and a higher return on those investments.