CARLISLE -- Penn State's Board of Trustees approved the largest tuition increase in 20 years on Friday.

The university's $2.4 billion budget includes a 13.5 percent tuition increase, the largest since a 14.6 percent increase in 1982.

Lower-division students -- those who have earned fewer than 60 credits -- at University Park will see an increase of $477 per semester, while upper-division students will have to pay an additional $502 per semester. Graduate students will face an increase of $534 per semester.

Additionally, tuition at the Dickinson School of Law will increase 20.9 percent, or $1,927 per semester and College of Medicine students will face a 9 percent increase. In-state tuition will cost $23,910, while out-of-state tuition will cost $33,240 a year.

Trustee Cynthia Baldwin spoke of the precarious position Penn State now finds itself in as it continually increases tuition to meet perceived needs.

"I realize that at this time, it needs to be said, we are doing a balancing. We are maintaining the standards to which the people of Pennsylvania have been accustomed. We are balancing that against the money we need," she said.

Penn State President Graham Spanier said the university does its part in helping students with financial needs. He said the majority of students receive grants, scholarships or tuition reductions.

This year's tuition increase followed the 1 percent catch-up plan described in the Tuition Task Force report, which was released in April. The 1 percent catch-up plan involves increasing costs plus 1 percent to improve rankings in areas such as faculty salaries.

Spanier told the trustees Thursday that salary adjustments were the largest component of the budget. Since 1995-96, the university has fallen from second to fourth in salaries for professors in the Big Ten, second to sixth for associate professors, and moved from eighth to fifth for assistant professors.

Trustee Charles Brosius said while he was troubled by the tuition increase, the Penn State name has a lot of value, especially in the agricultural field.

"There is no stronger line in a resume than 'I am a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences,' " he said. "We may be expensive, but we are the best."

Trustee Ed Hintz, board president, said voting to increase tuition was not an easy action for the trustees to take.

"I don't think anyone is doing this with a light heart," he said. "We're in the odd position where when times are good our increases are small, when times are bad our increases are large."

Undergraduate Student Government President Rubina Javeri said students should take an active role in trying to keep Penn State affordable for all who wish to attend.

"I think once again the burden's on students," she said. "We need to be more involved in the tuition and appropriation process."

Hintz added he appreciated hearing from the student leaders who spoke at the meeting, saying it was a perspective the board needed to hear.

"We'll keep every comment in our mind," he said.