Penn State will ask state legislators for a $14.5 million increase in funding for the 2003-2004 school year, the Penn State Board of Trustees voted Friday morning.

The budget request, brought before the board by Penn State President Graham Spanier, calls for $347.1 million in state appropriations. The request was passed by the board and will now move before the Pennsylvania Department of Education for approval.

If the university's proposal receives state approval, Penn State students will face a tuition increase of 6.5 percent -- or $260 per semester for freshmen and sophomores -- next school year, Spanier said.

"If the state does its part and nothing changes dramatically, we will see this as a fair increase," he said.

The state allocated Penn State $322.6 million for the current 2002-2003 academic year; two years ago, the university received $334.8 million.

Spanier called the university's request "intentionally modest" to reflect the state and the nation's struggling economic situation.

The outlined budget highlighted many problem areas the university recognized as lacking "solid" funding, the first of which is the College of Medicine. The university is asking for $10 million of funding for the College of Medicine.

Of the 75 public medical colleges in the nation, Penn State ranks last in state support. In 1999-2000, the college received about $4.7 million in state appropriations; in comparison, UCLA ranked first with $108.8 million.

In an attempt to change these numbers, Spanier said the university will begin a three-year plan that calls for a total of $30 million to be pumped into the college's fund by the state.

"Any good college of medicine is going to need a solid funding base," he said. "We have no significant state support. We rank dead last and that's unacceptable."

The university also addressed dwindling faculty salaries. Penn State is in the third year of a multi-year plan to make its faculty salaries more competitive, Spanier said.

"We're trying to make up that lost ground ... But you're always shooting at a moving target," he said, referring to the continual increase in employees' salaries at other universities.

Spanier said internal budget reductions and reallocations to create funding have become viable, but unwelcome, options for the university because of low state support. Over the last 11 years, the university has recycled upwards of $95 million internally.

"We used to say reallocations here, but now it's reductions and reallocations," he said. "We're constantly on the lookout for new sources of funding."

In addition, Spanier said the elimination of faculty and staff positions is quickly becoming an alternative.

"Now we see the possibility of some real cuts. Not just reallocation, but some real cuts," he said. "You cannot cut your way to excellence."

Trustee Steve Garban asked board members to also recognize the tuition problems that face out-of-state students when there are tuition increases.

"Clearly, we're in a bleak situation again," he said, referring to shrinking state appropriations.

Trustee Ted Junker asked Spanier if Pennsylvania's gubernatorial candidates, Mike Fisher and Ed Rendell, have had serious, productive discussions with the university regarding its shaky financial situation.

"Both of the candidates have been wonderfully supportive of Penn State," Spanier said. "However, no commitments have been made because of fiscal uncertainty and other priorities."