AUGUSTA (AP) – University of Maine System trustees on Monday will take up a proposal to raise tuition for full-time undergraduate students by an average of 5.7 percent in the coming academic year.

Following this year’s 10.8 percent tuition jump, the university pledged last fall to hold increases to a systemwide average of 6 percent.

University system spokesman John Diamond told the Kennebec Journal on Thursday that “tuition increases are the revenue sources of last resort.” He said that in light of the bad economy, the campuses are making significant cuts in their budgets in order to hold down tuition.

Under the proposal, University of Maine students would pay $7,590, a 5.9 percent increase. At the University of Southern Maine, tuition would total $6,930, a hike of 6 percent.

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Information from: Kennebec Journal, http://www.kjonline.com/

AP-ES-05-14-09 1401EDT