WARWICK — Acknowledging that its decision means more financial hardship for students and their families, the Board of Governors for Higher Education voted Monday night to increase tuition and fees at the state’s three public colleges by nearly 10 percent in 2010-2011.

In-state students at the University of Rhode Island will pay 9.9 percent more in tuition and fees next year, a $948 increase. Students at Rhode Island College will pay 9 percent more, or $578; and students at the Community College of Rhode Island will pay 8.2 percent more, or $276.

Full-time tuition and fees for in-state students is set at $10,476 a year at URI; $6,986 at RIC; and $3,652 at the community college.

Average room and board at URI and RIC will increase by about 5 percent at each institution, to $11,093 a year at the university and $9,519 a year at the college.

The increases mark the second consecutive year that tuition and fees have risen almost 10 percent — the limit, higher education officials say, to maintain the precarious balance between academic quality and affordability.

Board chairman Frank Caprio said board members regretted they had to place a heavier burden on families, calling it “an extraordinarily uncomfortable decision.”

“Our stated goal is to make higher education affordable and accessible,” Caprio said. “Every time we do this, we make it less affordable and less accessible. And we are disenfranchising many young people whose only chance out of poverty is education.”

Over an eight-year period, tuition and fees at the three colleges have skyrocketed, Caprio said. Since 2004, tuition and fees have increased 64 percent at URI, 75 percent at RIC and 72 percent at CCRI.

But Rhode Island incomes have failed to keep pace. For example, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council found that median family income in the state grew only 11.3 percent between 2005 and 2008.

“We are really going to price ourselves out of the market,” said Michael Ryan, board vice chairman. “I’m not a pessimist by nature, but I’m starting to get fed up.”

Three URI graduate students appealed to the board before the vote, saying undergraduate and graduate students at the state flagship research institution cannot shoulder more of the burden. They asked the board to make more modest increases.

“We couldn’t afford the last tuition and fee increase, we certainly can’t afford this next one,” said Courtney Schmidt, 27, of Warwick, vice president of the Graduate Student Association.

The institutions, which serve about 31,500 full-time students, say they have already taken painful steps to save money, including keeping 340 positions vacant and shuttering dozens of small programs.

The state’s economic woes have hit higher education hard. In the past four years, the state has slashed $36 million from the public colleges.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has given Rhode Island an “F” for college affordability.

In a 2008 report, Measuring Up, the center found that higher education has become increasingly out of reach for Rhode Island students and their families. Poor and working-class families must devote 54 percent of their income, even after receiving financial aid, to pay for public four-year colleges. The report also found that the state gives little financial aid to low-income students, spending just 28 cents for every $1 in federal Pell Grant aid.

The Board of Governors has said its goal is to keep tuition and fee hikes below the double-digit mark, but it is unclear whether it will be able to achieve that goal next year.

The board sets tuition and fees each fall for the coming academic year. The 2010-2011 spending plan assumes that the state will give the higher-education system about $160 million to operate. But this year, the state is contributing just $146.7 million to the public colleges and the Office of Higher Education, out of a total higher-education budget of about $870 million.

If Governor Carcieri or lawmakers decide to give the public colleges less than the requested amount, students could face even steeper tuition and fee hikes.

Acting Higher Education Commissioner Steven J. Maurano said that would be a last resort, considered only after other steps were discussed.

“We know the budget is not really the budget. The allocation has shifted considerably in the weeks and months after the budget has been enacted,” Maurano told the board. “If that continues to be the case, I suspect that all three institutions will be back before this board to propose additional strategies.”Costs going up

At URI

Tuition and fees: Up 9.9% to

$10,476

Room and board: Up 5.1% to

$11,093

At RIC

Tuition and fees: Up 9% to

$6,986

Room and board: Up 5.1% to

$9,519

At CCRI

Tuition and fees: Up 8.2% to

$3,652

Increases compared with costs for 2009-2010 academic year.

jjordan@projo.com