Stanford University's undergraduate charges will rise 3.5 percent next year to $56,441, the board of trustees decided this week.

A similar 3.5 percent increase was approved for general graduate, graduate engineering, medical and law students. For business students, the increase will be 3.9 percent.

The total undergraduate charges include tuition at $42,690, room and board at $13,166, plus fees.

Tuition provides about half of Stanford's $1 billion general fund budget, which covers, among other things, faculty and staff salaries, undergraduate financial aid and purchase of library books, the university said.

This year more than 3,400 of Stanford's 6,700 undergraduates are receiving needs-based financial aid. Another 20 percent receive other types of financial aid from internal or external sources.

Stanford students from families with income below $60,000 pay no tuition, room or board. Those from families with incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 pay no tuition.

Seventy-five percent of the Class of 2012 graduated debt-free, said Karen Cooper, director of financial aid. The median amount of debt for the other 25 percent was $11,632, Stanford said.

Next year's tuition at the School of Engineering will be $45,480; at the law school, $50,580; and at the Graduate School of Business, $57,300.

At the medical school, first-, second- and third-year students will pay $49,000 in tuition; those beyond the third year will see tuition rise to $51,657.

A mandatory campus health-service fee for all students on the main campus will increase from $179 per quarter this year to $185 per quarter next year.

— Palo Alto Weekly Staff

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