HERSHEY -- Students who want to live on campus next semester will have to shell out $1,685 for room and board costs, $90 more than the current price-tag of $1,595.

The University Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 5.6 percent increase for on-campus room and board expenses for the 1990-91 school year during Saturday's meeting at the University's Hershey Medical Center.

The rate hike will cover an increase in costs faced by the Housing and Food Services program, said Steve Garban, senior vice president for finance and operations and the University's treasurer.

Garban emphasized the room and board program is a self-supporting operation that receives no funds from the state or the University.

The average student living on campus currently pays $740 for a room and $855 for board.

Meal-plan point systems will also change under the new rates. Students will receive more points for their money, but will have to pay more points to attend each meal.

The new rates will cover food costs, salaries, wages, fringe benefits, utilities and various other expenses, Garban said.

The increase, which will affect about 12,000 undergraduates and 600 graduates who live on-campus, is the steepest since 1984, when on-campus students faced a 6.3 percent rate hike.

William McKinnon, vice president for Housing and Food Services, said the department's total expenses will increase 7 percent from this year's expenditure of $52.7 million to $56.4 million.

Some trustees said they realized there were few feasible alternatives to increasing room and board rates because of the inevitability of inflation and the self-supporting nature of the program.

"Although I would hope they could keep it lower, it would appear there is nowhere else to go," said Trustee Charles Fuget, the state deputy secretary of education.

The room and board program has no choice but to adjust rates to cover their costs, he added.

But Trustee David A. Morrow suggested Housing and Food Services hire more part-time students to work in the dining commons to save money and benefits.

Garban said the room and board program is now in a difficult stage, because many of the facilities date back to the 1960s. Most of the dorms and dining commons have not been renovated or updated for 25 to 30 years, he added.