Ivy Tech Community College will increase student tuition by up to 3.9 percent for 2004-05, officials decided Friday.

The college's board of trustees will vote on the increase April 15 at the Scott County Life Long Learning Center in Scottsburg.

The trustees' budget and finance committee made the preliminary tuition decision at a hearing Friday in Indianapolis, Ivy Tech President Gerald Lamkin and trustees president Francis Lueken Jr. said in a letter to Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan.

"Committee members also expressed a hope that the final percentage will go even lower when budget needs are fully identified," they wrote. "However, even at 3.9 percent, a full-time Ivy Tech student's fees would increase only $92 annually - from $2,378 to $2,470."

Fees for part-time students would be $80.25 per credit hour with the increase.

John Whikehart, chancellor of Ivy Tech Bloomington, said the college will remain affordable.

"Nobody likes to talk about tuition increases, but even at $80 a credit hour, that appears to us to be affordable," he said.

He said Ivy Tech Bloomington student government and Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society wrote to trustees that a tuition increase of up to 5 percent would be acceptable if money was used to add full-time faculty.

Last year, Ivy Tech increased tuition by 4.7 percent. "We saw no negative impact last year from the tuition increase. In fact, we had a 16 percent enrollment increase in the fall," Whikehart said.

Ivy Tech officials conducted the Friday tuition hearing in response to a request from Gov. Joe Kernan, who had urged state colleges and universities to limit tuition increases to 4 percent and give students, parents and public a chance for input.

Reporter Steve Hinnefeld can be reached at 331-4374 or by e-mail at shinnefeld@heraldt.com.