Utah public colleges expect to raise tuition rate by 3.7 percent. (Maddi Driggs)
Utah higher education authorities are set to consider a tuition increase that would raise college bills by as much as $278 a year.
The Utah Board of Regents will weigh an average 3.7 percent hike for the state's eight public colleges and universities at a meeting Friday.
Higher education officials say the extra money is needed to pay for things like faculty compensation, expanding courses and improving information technology.
The largest dollar increase would come at the state's flagship school, the University of Utah. They're proposing boosting tuition by $278, to about $7,400 a year.
The biggest percentage increase would be at Dixie State University, which wants to boost tuition by 5 percent to $4,100 a year.
Authorities say the rate hike for next school year would be the second smallest since the 1999-2000 school year.