Given the difficult economic times, Izzo, chief executive officer of Public Service Enterprise Group, said the board decided to "err on the side of keeping those rates as low as possible."
At the hearing, Kristen Clarke - the board's nonvoting student member - spoke passionately and echoed the remarks of students who told the board before the vote that they worked multiple jobs, accrued debt, and, in one case, relied on a grandfather's second mortgage to pay for school.
"It's only a couple hundred dollars per student," said Clarke, a senior from Ocean Township. "That could be the difference between keeping hundreds of kids at school and having them drop out."
Under the action taken by the board, mandatory fees will rise 0.6 percent. The combined 1.6 percent increase in tuition and fees is the lowest in more than two decades, according to the university.
A typical in-state School of Arts and Sciences undergraduate at the New Brunswick campus will pay $10,104 in tuition - up $178 from the past year - and $2,651 in mandatory fees, according to university representatives.
On-campus board and room rates will increase 3.3 percent, or about $356.
The total charge will be $24,017 - a 2.3 percent increase of $551.
Out-of-state tuition will go up 5 percent, according to the university.
The lower tuition increase "will cut millions of dollars that were needed for important priorities," said Nancy Winterbauer, a Rutgers vice president in charge of the budget. Rutgers president Richard McCormick said he would abide by the board's decision.
With 56,000 students on three campuses, Rutgers is among the nation's largest universities.
University officials say they are in a financial crunch. Under the new state budget, Rutgers will receive a subsidy equal to last year's - which was about 15 percent less than in the 2009-10 year.
The budgeting difficulties are compounded by the fact that the state's spending plan was not finalized until two weeks ago.
The state aid figure is essential to setting the university's course.
Faculty and staff had lobbied for raises. Unions agreed to give up raises two years ago. But with no state funding for raises, the university has continued the salary freezes.
More than two dozen people spoke at Thursday's board meeting while others chanted and blew horns during a rally outside the administration building. Many decried what they said was excessive spending on top administrators' salaries and the athletic department.
Contact staff writer Rita Giordano at 856-779-3841 or rgiordano@phillynews.com. This article contains information from the Associated Press.
