The University of Hawaii Board of Regents approved a five-year tuition schedule proposal Wednesday presented by the UH administration to begin in fall 2012 and run through spring 2017.

Full-time students attending the UH-Manoa will see a tuition increase of 35 percent over the next five years.

Students at the Manoa campus will see an increase of $132 per semester in the first year.

UH-Hilo students will see a jump of $120 and community college students will see a bump of $60 per semester in the first year.

UH-West Oahu's tuition would go up $228 per semester in the first year.

In recognition of the state?s current fiscal situation and the resulting impact on students and their families, the tuition schedule proposes modest increases, according to UH press release.

"This has been one of the toughest issues we have taken on in our service as Regents," said UH Board of Regents Chair Eric Martinson. "We are well aware of the economic struggle that many Hawai?i families are experiencing. We made this decision with the best interests of Hawai?i's citizens and our only public higher education institution in mind, and with the certainty that accompanying increased financial aid and outreach counseling will continue to make a college degree accessible to all who desire it."

The university has sustained over $86 million in cuts to its core operating budget over the last two years.

During this same period, enrollment has increased to a record high of 60,000 students, an increase of 14,000 students from a decade ago.

"The university has made every effort to preserve services that directly impact students and has made significant adjustments in its operations to address these budget cuts, including salary reductions, hiring freezes, travel restrictions, energy conservation and other measures," said UH President M.R.C. Greenwood. "In the meantime we have made extraordinary efforts to, in the face of declining public dollars, pursue and win grants and extramural funding that have gone directly into programs and opportunities to benefit our students."