Crack open those piggy banks, kids. The Ohio State Board of Trustees will meet July 2 for final approval of a 6 percent tuition increase for the coming year. The board paved the way for the increase at a June 4 meeting, when they completed the first phase of a two-stage voting process required to implement the price hike.According to current state law, tuition increases at Ohio’s public universities and colleges are “capped” at 6 percent per year. In a repeat of last year’s tuition increase, the board is expected to again approve a 6 percent hike, which would raise the cost of instructional and general fees at OSU to $4,110 a year for in-state undergraduates. OSU undergraduates currently fork out $3,879 a year for tuition. In-state graduate students pay $5,445. Under the new pricing plan, resident graduate students would also see their tuition rise to $5,730, a 5.2 percent increase. University officials say OSU’s tuition is relatively cheap, compared to other public universities in Ohio. “Among the 13 state schools in Ohio, Ohio State’s fees are fourth-lowest,” said Bill Napier, executive assistant to OSU President William “Brit” Kirwan. “There’s a $2,000 a year gap between what Miami charges and what OSU charges.”Miami University assesses an annual in-state tuition of $5,802, the highest among the 13 public universities. Shawnee State offers the best bargain, charging in-state undergraduates $3,213.On average, Ohio residents attending a public undergraduate university pay $4,174 in tuition. The increase in OSU’s fees is aimed at improving the quality of the university, and “allows us to make more investments in technology, computers and student financial aid,” Napier said. A comparison of OSU’s 1998-1999 resident undergraduate tuition with nine out-of-state schools similar in size and mission – including Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Penn State – shows that OSU’s tuition is 7 percent below the $4,196 average. Of the nine benchmark schools, Arizona has the lowest in-state tuition, $2,158 per year. Texas and Wisconsin follow, with the latter having an annual resident undergraduate tuition of $3,408. The University of Michigan tops the list with an in-state undergraduate tuition of $6,489. “Keep in mind, schools like Wisconsin get more state tax money than OSU,” said William Shkurti, OSU’s vice president for business and finance, who provided the benchmark figures.Shkurti said OSU and the Ohio Board of Regents have been lobbying Ohio legislators who are currently putting the finishing touches on next year’s education and state budget bills, to bring more cash to Ohio’s colleges. School officials want the 6 percent tuition cap removed, and are requesting $39 million in instructional subsidies for Ohio’s public universities and colleges in 1999-2000.Decisions on both the instructional subsidy allocation and the tuition cap provision have come under the domain of the Senate-House joint conference committee currently reviewing final drafts of the budget bill. A member of the six-person committee, Sen. Eric Fingerhut, D-Cleveland, said Friday that the committee should reach a decision on these particular issues by June 25.”To say that either issue is closed would be premature,” Fingerhut said. The instructional subsidy is part of the bill’s $2.4 billion package of spending projects for the state`s colleges and universities in the next fiscal year. The subsidy would be divided up among Ohio’s 13 public universities, 47 branch campuses, technical and community colleges and two state medical colleges.Each school’s cut of the instructional subsidy is based on the number students attending the university or college. That formula works well for OSU, the largest institution in the state.”OSU typically gets 19 to 20 percent of the (instructional) subsidy budget,” Shkurti said.Of a $39 million subsidy budget, OSU would get about $2 million to $4 million, Shkurti said.