CHICAGO—The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today approved new tuition rates at its three campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield and proposed a system-wide $3.9 billion budget for the 2008 fiscal year.

In other business at their regular meeting at the University of Illinois at Chicago, trustees approved divesting from the University endowment investments in companies believed to be engaged in commerce with the genocidal Sudanese government.

Tuition for new, in-state freshmen for the 2007-08 school year at the Urbana and Chicago campuses will rise the equivalent of 3.7 percent per year over the four-year guarantee. That translates to an increase of $366 per semester at Urbana and $322 per semester at Chicago. At the University of Illinois at Springfield, which is expanding into a four-year, residential public liberal arts institution, tuition will rise $390 per semester.

The trustees approved new mandatory fees and room-and-board rates at its March meeting. (See 2007-08 tuition and fees fact sheet.)

President B. Joseph White described the new rates as moderate and necessary to maintain the high quality of the U. of I.

"Higher education in our state, and particularly the University of Illinois, are the state's most valuable assets in creating a prosperous future for our citizens," White said. "We not only educate the next generation of leaders but also work to solve the big societal problems in areas such as energy, the environment and health care."

The preliminary proposed budget for the 2008 fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2008, is $3.9 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent over fiscal 2007.

The State of Illinois' total support, including employee benefits paid by the state, is $1.18 billion, about 30 percent of the budget. Income from tuition, fees and operations is budgeted at $598.6 million, about 15.5 percent of the 2008 budget.

Other significant contributions to the budget come from federally sponsored faculty research and royalties at about $770 million and gifts and earnings on the University endowment at about $150 million. (See budget fact sheet.)

The 2008 budget proposes a 2.5 percent salary increase for faculty and staff as well as funds designated for "faculty competitiveness." Employee salary and benefits account for about $2 billion of the budget.

Board of Trustees Chair Lawrence C. Eppley said the proposed fiscal 2008 U. of I. budget should be viewed as an investment in the future.

"The U. of I. is a wonderful resource both for individuals and the State of Illinois," Eppley said. "Every year, the U. of I. produces 17,000 graduates who reinvigorate our companies and organizations, create new products and enterprises and contribute their leadership and tax dollars to the state and their communities."

The trustees also approved a Sudan divestment policy responding to what both the United Nations and the U.S. government have labeled as genocide in the African nation's Darfur region.

The U. of I. will by June 30 divest $2.3 million in direct investments in publicly traded companies doing business with the Sudan government. Companies will be identified from a divestment list maintained by Institutional Shareholder Services, a corporate governance and research company, which will continue to provide a monthly report with additions and deletions to the divestment list.

The board resolution termed the Sudan government's treatment of the people of Darfur "abhorrent to the University of Illinois and the Board of Trustees and the ideals for which they stand."

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