The University System of New Hampshire is losing $48.4 million in state support for the coming fiscal year—a reduction of 48 percent. That will mean an 8.7 percent increase in tuition for in-state students at the University of New Hampshire.

The USNH Board of Trustees recently approved a $419 million operating budget for fiscal year 2012. To compensate for funding cuts, the budget eliminates more than 200 positions, reduces employee benefits, postpones facility repairs and other capital investments, and cuts costs on all state campuses. 

The expense savings will offset 80 percent of the lost state appropriations, according to a USNH press release. 

But tuition hikes will be significant at UNH, Plymouth State University, Keene State College and Granite State College. Tuition at UNH, including room and board and mandatory fees, jumps to $24,702 per year for in-state students. Tuition for out-of-state students increases by roughly 4 percent to $38,022. 

The tuition hike is even steeper at Plymouth State and Keene State, where the cost for in-state students increases by 9.7 percent to more than $20,300. The cost for out-of-state students at both schools is about $27,800. 

Tuition at Granite State, a commuter college with no room and board, increases by 5.8 percent to $275 per credit hour ($285 for out-of-state students).

The USNH budget also includes a 16 percent increase in financial aid. More than 30 percent of students are currently eligible for the federal Pell grant program, which is based on family income, according to the press release. USNH will spend nearly $90 million on student financial aid next year.

“This will be the most challenging year in the history of the University System in light of the state’s fiscal situation and resulting cuts in funding for public higher education,” USNH Board chair Ed Dupont said in the release. 

The $10.2 billion biennial state budget approved by New Hampshire’s Republican-led House and Senate also cuts funding by 20 percent for the Community College System, a separate group of seven institutions. In total, state colleges and universities will lose $110 million in state appropriations over the next two years. 

Gov. John Lynch has allowed the state budget to become law without his signature. “This budget puts college out of reach for too many families, jeopardizing our state’s successful economic strategy,” Lynch said in a press release.