Tuition for University of Rochester undergraduates in the College and in the Eastman School of Music will increase 4.5 percent for the coming academic year from $41,040 to $42,890.

The combined term bill of tuition, room, and board will grow 4.4 percent from $53,160 to $55,476 for the 2012-13 year.

"Our first priority is to provide our students with an education of the highest quality," said University President Joel Seligman. "We continue to invest in instruction and the quality and breadth of the undergraduate academic experience and to achieve cost efficiencies when possible. Through The Meliora Challenge campaign, which we launched in October, we are seeking to increase the number of endowed scholarships and fellowships, which increasingly make a Rochester education accessible to students who could not otherwise afford it."

For the coming year, the College has increased its commitment to student financial aid by 5.7 percent to $85 million.

Over the last five years, the College has made large investments to strengthen undergraduate education, and these continue. Twenty-one new majors and minors have been established, including degrees in international relations, in business, and in public health. Support for undergraduate research and independent study has been greatly expanded.

At the University's professional schools, the tuition rates for 2012-13 will be: $44,700 for the School of Medicine and Dentistry, a 3.7 percent increase; $37,018 for the School of Nursing, a 4 percent increase; $47,210 for the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, a 4.5 percent increase; and $38,464 for the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, a 4 percent increase.

The University Board of Trustees approved the tuition rates for all schools at its March meeting.