CHAPEL HILL - Tuition at state universities will rise an average of 1.2 percent for 2008-09, while fees will increase by an average of 4.5 percent.

The UNC Board of Governors set the rates Friday in Chapel Hill. The increases were smaller than usual because of substantial new money appropriated last year by the legislature.

A few students attended the board's tuition discussion Thursday, but unlike some previous years, there was no protest.

The board's current tuition plan had set a cap of 6.5 percent on tuition increases. The cap is lowered if legislative appropriations rise above a historical average of 6 percent. That's what happened last year, when the university system had a healthy increase in funding.

The tuition and fee price for in-state undergraduates will be: $5,143 at N.C. State University, an increase of 2.8 percent; $3,690 at N.C. Central University, an increaseof 2.4 percent; and $5,228 at UNC-Chapel Hill, an increase of 1 percent. Rates for out-of-state students are $17,441 at NCSU, $13,434 at NCCU and $22,126 at UNC-CH. Those are annual figures that do not include costs for room, board and books.

UNC leaders expressed disappointment that campuses had not done enough to lower textbook costs. The UNC system has pushed campuses to adopt book buyback policies and other methods that could help make textbooks more affordable. There has been little progress, board Chairman Jim Phillips said.

"We can and must do better for the students on that issue," Phillips said.

UNC President Erskine Bowles on Thursday blamed faculty, in part, for not ordering books promptly. In 2006-07, a systemwide average of 71 percent of textbook orders were placed on time. UNC-CH had the worst rate, with only 43 percent of orders on time.

In strong terms, Bowles said that unless the situation improves, "I'm not going to bust my tail at the legislature," referring to his role as an advocate for higher faculty salaries.

"The thing that bothers me is, we've worked hard to get faculty compensation up," Bowles said. "By golly, the faculty owe it to the students to help us get the cost of textbooks down."

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