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GREENSBORO — The $110 tuition increase N.C. A&T’s Board of Trustees approved Friday for undergraduates — and the General Assembly’s legislated increase earlier this year — carry a similar financial impact for students, Chancellor Harold Martin said.

But what will be different if the university’s increase prevails is that the money generated will go to campus needs, Martin told the trustees.

In addition to the tuition increase, A&T’s trustees also approved a $93.25 increase in fees for athletics, educational technology, student activities and health services.

Together, that will mean an additional $203 undergraduates will pay next year. That represents a 5.5 percent increase in tuition and a 6.4 percent increase in fees.

Out-of-state undergraduates would experience the same increase; in-state and out-of-state graduate students would see a $125 tuition increase.

UNCG trustees on Thursday approved a $254 increase in tuition and fees for undergraduates.

The General Assembly earlier this year called for an 8 percent or $200 increase, whichever is less. But Martin said UNC System President Erskine Bowles is seeking to have those amounts halved, then allowing the universities’ individual increase requests to fill in the difference. That measure would allow the universities to keep the money generated for financial aid and academic and student support, he said.

A&T’s tuition and fees committee, which includes faculty, staff and students, recommended the increases that were approved Friday.

Akua Matherson, chairwoman of that committee and assistant vice-chancellor for budget and planning, said after the meeting that students had more questions about the legislative increases than the university’s tuition hike.

Martin also used Friday’s tuition discussion as an opportunity to mention a five-year strategic plan to increase tuition. The extra money would go toward academic initiatives and recruitment and retention of quality faculty to help the university become more competitive, Martin said.

He said he’ll talk more with student groups about the plan. “I’ll also have these frank discussions with the (UNC System) president,” he said.

According to information presented during the meeting, N.C. A&T ranks fourth lowest among the 16-campus UNC system for its in-state undergraduate tuition and fees. Only Winston-Salem, Fayetteville and Elizabeth City state universities rank lower.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com