Tuition is going up again in the fall, but it’s the smallest increase in the last decade.

The 4.9 percent increase will bring tuition for full-time undergraduate students to $34,596. That’s an increase of $1,800.

In addition, there are other hikes, including a $50 rise per quarter for the student activity fee and a $10 increase per quarter in the health and counseling fee.

All these hikes, combined with room and board costs, bring the total cost for undergraduates next year to $44,977.

Students and parents received notice of the rate hike in a letter last week.

In a year with an economic recession and DU staff being offered buyouts, the university decided on a small increase to help students and their families, said Jim Berscheidt, associate vice chancellor of University Communications.

“I think a lot of schools who are trying to take a very proactive approach to help families are doing what they can, and this is a way to do it,” he said.

The cost of tuition is becoming “harder and harder to deal with,” he said. “It’s just a concerted effort by the university not to make the increase so high that it becomes more of an issue for families.”

A letter from Provost Gregg Kvistad was sent out to undergraduate students, their families and graduate students.

“While the University of Denver’s financial position relative to many universities and colleges is strong, the administration has worked closely with the Board of Trustees over the last five months to ensure that our investments are strategically focused, that our operations are efficient…and that our quality is not diminished but is actually enhanced in this time of economic uncertainty,” wrote Kvistad in his letter to parents.

“Unlike many fine institutions across the country, we do not plan to increase class size, reduce teaching capacity or downgrade our commitment to the finest comprehensive study abroad program in the United States.

“The University is making permanent expense reductions elsewhere to preserve and enhance these core investments, including increased allocations for need- and merit-based financial aid.”

Tuition increases are presented by the administration to the DU Board of Trustees, which gives final approval in January.

The percentage increase is based on the financial requirements necessary to fund academic programs and campus operations for the next fiscal year.

“DU is always looking at ways to be more efficient with the dollars we have,” Berscheidt wrote in an e-mail to the Clarion.

According to a DU press release, 80 percent of undergraduates receive financial assistance from the university.

Kvistad wrote in his letter that the university has increased its financial aid investment for next year.