SHARON -- Under the budget passed by the University Board of Trustees Saturday, non-residents will pay a greater percentage of the cost to run the University next year with a 9 percent increase in their tuition, while undergraduates from Pennsylvania face a 4 percent raise.

Administrators will spend about 10.9 percent more to operate Penn State in the coming year. The plan approved Saturday includes the lowest tuition increase for Pennsylvania undergraduates in 22 years.

The board passed the $1.146 billion budget unanimously during a meeting at the Shenango Valley campus.

Student Trustee Christina Henke's vote for the tuition increase marks the first time in her two-year tenure on the board that she has not spoken against a proposed hike.

Calling it a step in the right direction, Henke said she backed the proposal because this year's increase for Pennsylvania undergraduates is significantly lower than the average 10 percent raise students have paid in the preceding 21 years.

Trustee Richard Trumka, the only other trustee to vote against tuition increases in recent years, did not attend the board meeting.

During his presentation to the board, University President Bryce Jordan cited a national trend of charging non-residents more money each year for attending state schools as a reason to alter the ratio between in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.

"It's a year when the clear winners are Pennsylvania resident undergraduate students," he said in reference to the lower tuition hike for in-state students.

In 1988-89 non-resident undergraduates paid about twice as much as Pennsylvanians did to attend Penn State, while the average among similar institutions is almost 3 to 1, Jordan said.

Working for 40 hours per week at four dollars per hour, it would take an out-of-state student more than four weeks to earn enough to pay for the $652 increase. The estimate excludes taxes extracted from the student's paycheck.

At University Park, resident undergraduates will pay $3,754 in tuition for 1989-90 and non-residents will pay $7,900.

In-state graduate students face a $348 tuition hike for a total of $4,198 per year and non-Pennsylvanians will pay a $694 increase, bringing their tuition to $8,388.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations Steve Garban said he did not believe the number of non-residents attending the University will decline because of the tuition increase, citing the high demand for a Penn State education. Garban made his remarks during a news conference last week.

The budget process is not finished, however, because the University will have to start planning for the 1990-91 budget almost immediately.

Requests for state support are due in Harrisburg in September, and Penn State could have a tougher time obtaining funding from the legislature next year, Trustee Helen Wise said after the meeting.

Wise is a member of Gov. Robert P. Casey's staff.

Both administrators and trustees commended state legislative efforts to hold tuition down this year. The University's $228.2 million basic state appropriation represents a 9.16 percent increase -- the biggest jump in 15 years.

Trustee Edward Zemprelli applauded this year's increased state allocation, saying, "The recognition of the priority in this year's budget for higher education is absolutely unbelievable for a number of reasons. First of all it will never qualify for the highest priority (in the legislature)."

One aspect of the appropriations bill offered the University $3.3 million in additional state support in exchange for keeping the tuition increase for Pennsylvania undergraduates down to 4 percent.

If Casey had not proposed the tuition challenge program, all students probably would have faced a 9 percent hike, Henke said.

Jordan also noted the importance of the governor's proposal.

"It's very important that the tuition challenge grant become a part of the (appropriations) base for next year. If it's not we have . . . some serious difficulties ahead of us," Jordan said.

Without the challenge program, students could face a 10 percent tuition hike next year, he said, calling the scenario "entirely possible."

But Wise warned that next year will be a much tighter budget year for the state and the tuition challenge grant could be in jeopardy.

All economic projections show that revenue increases for the state are going to level off, she said, adding that it is unlikely a program such as the tuition challenge grant could be extended for out-of-state or graduate students in the near future.

"Can we consider expanding it? I honestly don't know, next year probably not," Wise said.

State underfunding is the primary cause University administrators cite for escalating tuition over the past 22 years. The 1967-68 school year was the last time Penn State tuition did not rise.

In the decade following 1975-76, state and local support to public higher education per full-time equivalent student increased an average of 123.3 percent nationally, while in Pennsylvania the increase was 69 percent. Jordan presented the comparison to the trustees based on statistics compiled by the National Center for Educational Statistics.

"Our University's appropriation per student is 51 percent below the national average," Jordan told the board's finance committee.

Also, Penn State receives the lowest allocation per student among the state-owned and state-related schools in Pennsylvania, which include the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University.

But Zemprelli, a former state senator, said it is unreasonable to blame funding problems and tuition increases entirely on the legislature, saying the University must assume responsibility also.

In 1987-88 the University requested about a 19 percent increase in state appropriations and this year administrators asked for a 14.1 percent hike. Zemprelli said there is "no way" the state will ever support that level of growth at Penn State.