CHAPEL HILL — Tuition and fees would climb an estimated 8.4 percent for North Carolina undergraduates next year at UNC-Chapel Hill under a proposal approved by the Board of Trustees on Thursday.

Much of the drama evaporated from this year’s tuition debate because the UNC system’s Board of Governors passed a two-year plan for in-state undergraduate rates last year. In-state undergraduates at UNC-CH will pay an additional $600 in tuition, a 10 percent increase, next year. The trustees are asking the system board for a 2.5 percent increase in fees for students.

The proposed total tuition and fees for 2013-2014 is $8,340 for in-state undergraduates and $30,122 for out-of-state undergraduates. Tuition and fees make up about one-third of the price for a UNC-CH undergraduate from North Carolina.

The rates will go before the UNC Board of Governors early next year for final approval.

Provost Bruce Carney said Thursday that state budget reductions had taken a toll in recent years, particularly in 2011-2012, when the campus sustained $100 million in cuts. A substantial tuition increase last year was used to regain some ground on essential classroom needs, he said.

“We’re in much better shape for it,” he said.

Even with the recent tuition increases, Carney said, a UNC-CH education is still a bargain. Pointing to the $8,340 tuition and fee figure on a chart, he said, “It’s a big number. It’s a lot bigger number than it has been, but it is still pretty low.”

Among 10 public universities of similar quality, UNC-CH’s price tag for in-state students ranks as the cheapest; for out-of-state students, UNC-CH’s price ranks at about the middle of the pack.

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