The Penn State Board of Trustees gave university administration the green light Friday to request more than $450 million from the state government for the 2007-2008 academic year -- money administrators promised would contribute to increasing faculty salaries while keeping tuition as low as possible.

While presenting the university's request at the meeting, Penn State President Graham Spanier said if the university receives the appropriation it wants, Pennsylvania residents studying at University Park will see a 4.8 percent increase in tuition for the 2007-2008 academic year. Penn State saw a 5.6 percent tuition increase for the 2006-2007 academic year.

"We believe that these increases ... reflect our continued efforts to keep tuition as low as possible, despite rapid increases in many areas of the budget that the university is obligated to fund," Spanier told the trustees Friday.

Of the $450 million the university is seeking, about $365 million would be considered an "appropriation" from the state, which would go toward the operation of the university. The other part of the university's request earmarks $89.5 million for the capital budget -- money pinned to construction projects.

A desire to increase faculty and staff salaries also factored into how much money Penn State will seek from Harrisburg.

"Our salaries lost ground against peers nationally this past year," Spanier said.

Penn State is requesting $35 million for "faculty and staff salary adjustments," according to a summary of the request provided by the university. Spanier said after the meeting that salary increases would be decided on at the departmental and college level.

"All faculty salary increases are principally merit-driven," Spanier said.

Senior Vice President of Finance and Business Gary Schultz presented the university's capital budget request to the trustees. He indicated that $25 million of the money would be set aside to either renovate the Computer Building, located near the corner of Curtin and Bigler roads, or tear it down and build a new one.

"The existing Computer Building will no longer be large enough," Schultz said.

In an interview after the meeting, however, Schultz seemed unsure about a timeline for a decision on the future of the Computer Building.

Authorization from the state to proceed with a capital budget project "often takes many years," Schultz said. "We don't have a clear enough idea what the future needs are going to be."

Spanier also promised the university would aim to reduce expenses by $7,143,000 throughout the 2007-2008 academic year.

"Every department will be expected to participate in some way," Spanier said after the meeting.

The exact amount of money Penn State will receive from Harrisburg for appropriations and the capital budget will not be known until late June or early July of 2007, when the governor signs the state's 2007-2008 budget into law.