Ehrlich Budget Boosts U-Md.

"This is the culmination of two and a half years of hard work and negotiations," he said. "I know these additional dollars are going to be well spent."

Ehrlich said he is comfortable with the current level of tuition, particularly given "the quality of education in the system," and said he believes most parents will find modest tuition increases reasonable into the future.

Annual tuition and fees for full-time in-state students at the University of Maryland at College Park are $7,821, according to the school's Web site.

Increases this year averaged 5.8 percent across the campuses. Regents expressed mixed views yesterday on the impact of the coming year's expected tuition increases.

James C. Rosapepe, who was appointed by then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D), said he supports freezing tuition, as proposed Monday by Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, a Democratic rival to Ehrlich.

But Richard E. Hug, a regent appointed by Ehrlich, called the proposal unrealistic.

"We do have to be concerned about affordability," said Hug, who had advocated even steeper increases. "But we also have to be concerned about having the financial resources to run the institutions."

Maryland's tuition and fees for the current school year are the sixth-highest in the nation for public four-year institutions, according to an annual study by the College Board. Virginia ranks 14th.

Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, said the improved fiscal outlook for states across the nation is likely to mean greater spending for higher education.

But Maryland's double-digit increase, he said, "is certainly going to be well above its peers around the country."

Reindl said Maryland is also trying to repair earlier damage from budget cuts. "They are running fast to catch up,'' he said.

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, yesterday branded Ehrlich's proposals a "shameless election-year conversion." Duncan plans to deliver a policy speech on higher education tomorrow.

Dan Mote, president of the University of Maryland, said Ehrlich's proposal marks a major shift in thinking about the importance of higher education. But he cautioned that it would take several years to "get back to where we need to be. . . . It's not a one-step recovery."

Ehrlich said he expects the funding increases to continue. "You can't marry yourself to a number . . . but clearly we expect to maintain healthy and appropriate support of higher education," he said.

Staff writer Susan Kinzie contributed to this report.