The increase brings next year's average annual room and board cost to $6,230. Undergraduates living on campus in a standard double room will pay an additional $85 per semester for housing and an additional $60 per semester for meal plan No. 3, which allows for 12 to 13 meals per week.

Sample room and board rates are based on the price of a standard double room and meal plan No. 3. Single rooms and specialty housing, such as Nittany Apartments or the new Eastview Terrace dormitories, have higher rates.

Basic rates increased by 4.95 percent, or $280, for this academic school year. For 2002-03, rates increased by 6.79 percent, or $360, over the previous year A portion of the increase will go toward a $50 million safety initiative to install sprinklers in all residential units by 2010.

Paul Ruskin, Office of Physical Plant spokesman, said the project's progress is approaching the halfway point and will be completed by 2010. The sprinkler systems are installed in four or five residence halls each summer, he said.

Ruskin said the university already has fire alarm systems in residence halls that are electronically connected and monitored.

"The ability to put out a fire just as it begins is very important," Ruskin said. "Not only do we know that the alarm has gone off, but now we can almost instantly have fire suppression."

Trustee Steve Garban said he is pleased with the safety initiative.

"In addition to being a good idea for safety, it's just a very good enhancement program," Garban said. "We're fortunate that we are able to get it done."

Gibson said the increase also includes the cost of opening the Eastview Terrace complex, creating additional housing units at Penn State Erie and renovating Redifer Commons in South Halls.

The Eastview Terrace housing complex, which is scheduled to open next fall, will include 811 single rooms, each with air conditioning and an individual bathroom.

Ruskin said the complex is the first new undergraduate housing since the mid-1960s and will be reserved for juniors and seniors.

Renovations in South Halls to expand the dining commons area will provide food service to students living at Eastview Terrace once it is completed, Ruskin said.

Housing and Food Services is a self-sufficient operation that runs independently of tuition and state funding.

Despite the increase, Penn State's room and board costs rank among the most affordable in the Big Ten, Gibson said. This year's percentage increase is the smallest at Penn State in four years.