The Penn State Board of Trustees voted unanimously Friday to increase 2006-07 room and board rates by an average of 4.9 percent, which university officials say will pay for rising fuel costs and a new sprinkler system.

Rates for standard undergraduate on-campus double rooms will increase $95 per semester, from $1,715 to $1,810.

The rates for all six meal plan options were also raised. Meal plan three, the most common, was increased from $1,550 to $1,615, an increase of $65 per semester.

With the increases, the average room and board cost for next year will be $6,850, an increase of $320 from last year.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the sprinkler system, which is supposed to be installed by 2010, is expected to cost the university $50 million.

"Part of what you'll be paying will be for the sprinkler system," Mahon said. "The state gave us a number of years to install them, and it's one of those unfunded mandates that you get from the state government."

So far, about 13,000 of the 18,500 living spaces projected to have sprinklers have been installed.

Undergraduate Student Government President and trustee Galen Foulke said he thought the increases were fair and necessary.

"The increases are pretty much dictated by the increase in costs to maintain our housing programs," Foulke said. "It seems very fair to me."

Foulke said he met with Associate Vice President for Finance and Business Tom Gibson and Assistant Vice President for Housing and Residence Life Gail Hurley to talk about the increases a few days before the meeting.

"They went through and answered a lot of my questions," he said. "I felt very well informed."

Mahon also said the university typically has less expensive housing and food costs than its peer universities.

"In recent years we've been less expensive than Pitt or Temple, as well as a number of the other Big Ten schools," Mahon said.

Prior to the vote, there was no discussion by the trustees about the raise in room and board rates.

Gibson said the rate increases reflect higher operating costs and allows the university to upgrade existing facilities.

"The room and board rate proposal supports normal increases in annual operating expenses and subsidizes an ongoing program of updating existing facilities with new amenities and safety features, such as sprinklers," Gibson said.

Rates for graduate apartments at University Park were also increased. For a four-bedroom apartment at White Course, the rate will increase by $30 to $575 per person per month. One-, two- and three-bedroom apartments also experienced rate increases of $20, $25 and $30, respectively.

The university will continue to take the job of keeping housing reasonable seriously despite rising costs, Gibson said.

Last year, the trustees approved a room and board increase of 4.82 percent, or $300, and rates increased 4.88 percent, or $280, for 2004-05.

Keith Gehres (freshman-engineering) said he had considered living on-campus next year, but has changed his mind since he heard about the rate increases.

"That's a rip-off, that's too much," Gehres said. "Apartments are cheaper as it is."

Christie Butler (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said she understands why the university has to raise the rates.

"I want to live in a nice place, and they have to keep the places up, so I understand it," Butler said.