NEW BRUNSWICK -- Rutgers University's undergraduate tuition and fees will go up 2.3 percent -- or by about $300 -- this fall under a plan approved by the state university's board Thursday. 
 
 The typical in-state undergraduate on the New Brunswick campus will pay $14,131 in annual tuition and fees in 2015-2016, or $318 more than last year, school officials said. 
 
 Room and board costs are also going up about 2.6 percent under the plan. Once all of the costs are totaled, the average student living on the New Brunswick campus will pay a total bill of $26,185 to attend Rutgers, or $624 more than last year. 
 
 The Rutgers Board of Governors unanimously approved the tuition hike during a meeting on the New Brunswick campus. The 15-member board also approved a new $3.8 billion budget for the 65,000-student university. 
 
 Rutgers needs the tuition hike to cover several rising costs, including new contracts with various unions calling for a 2 percent raises for Rutgers employees and a 3.7 percent cut in state funding for Rutgers operations. 
 
 "A lot of this is out of our hands," said Mark Angelson, head of the board's finance committee. 
 
 Under Rutgers' system, tuition and fees vary by campus and school. On the Rutgers-Newark campus, the typical undergraduate will pay $13,597 in annual tuition and fees, or $300 more than last year. 
 
 On the Rutgers-Camden campus, the typical undergraduate will pay $14,000 in annual tuition and fees, or $317 more than last year. 
 
 The board approved similar increases of about 2.3 percent for most graduate students. Out-of-state students will see their tuition and fees go up slightly more, by about 3.4 percent. 
 
 This year's tuition and fee increase was about the same as last year, when Rutgers' board voted to approve a 2.3 percent increase. 
 
 "We have really tried under this administration and this president to keep our tuition and fee increases reasonable," said Nancy Winterbauer, Rutgers' vice president for university budgeting. 
 
 Rutgers, like most of the state's public four-year colleges, sets tuition in the summer after the state budget is approved in Trenton. That means few students attend the July meeting where the Rutgers board votes on tuition increases. 
 
 No students were given the opportunity to speak during the meeting. But, during the spring semester, students were given a chance to comment on tuition during a hearing attended by board members. 
 
 Rutgers continues to have one of the highest tuition rates in the nation among state universities. But New Jersey is considered a high aid state in which low-income students receive relatively generous financial aid packages to help cover tuition. 
 
 Less than half of Rutgers students pay the full tuition and fee rate, university officials said. The rest get grants and scholarships to help cover some of their tuition. 
 
 On the New Brunswick campus, the typical in-state undergraduate has their tuition reduced by about 45 percent, Winterbauer said. 
 
 "Grants and scholarships are reducing the costs for the average student by significant amounts," Winterbauer said. 
 
 The Rutgers board also approved a 3.2 percent increase in the university's financial aid program. The Rutgers Assistance Grant program will include $32.5 million to help low-income students cover the tuition increase, Winterbauer said. 
 
 Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com . Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer . Find NJ.com on Facebook ||||| 
 
 In this Oct. 6, 2011 photo, Gan Golan of Los Angeles, dressed as the “Master of Degrees,” holds a ball and chain representing his college loan debt during Occupy DC activities in (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 
 
 Getting an advanced degree doesn’t come cheap, which is why graduate students carry nearly half of all student debt. But it turns out that a handful of schools are responsible for a large share of that money. 
 
 A new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 20 universities received one-fifth, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of loans the government gave graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year. Those schools, however, only educate 12 percent of all graduate students. 
 
 What’s striking about the Center’s findings is that a majority of the debt taken to attend the 20 schools on its list is not for law or medical degrees that promise hefty paydays. Most graduate students at those schools are seeking master’s degrees in journalism, fine arts or government, according to CAP. 
 
 [It’s about to get cheaper to borrow for college] 
 
 Still, at two foreign medical schools, St. George’s University in Grenada and Ross University in Dominica, students borrowed more than $200 million in a single school year. Medical schools in the Caribbean are often a refuge for students rejected from top American schools, but their tuition easily rival schools in the United States. Tuition for one semester at Ross, for instance, costs up to $21,710. 
 
 It’s not exactly shocking that pricey private schools like New York University, Georgetown University and George Washington University made the list–tuition alone at all three schools is well over $40,000 a year. But the eight for-profit colleges, including University of Phoenix and Capella University, may raise some eyebrows. 
 
 Indeed, students borrowed the most amount of money, $756 million, to attend Walden University, a for-profit school that specializes in offering graduate degrees in education, healthcare and business. The second highest loan balance on the list is attributed to Nova Southeastern University, a private college in Florida where 59 percent of students are working toward graduate degrees online. 
 
 Although online programs are billed as time and cost effective, schools like Nova and Liberty University prove otherwise. About 98 percent of graduate students at Liberty, founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, are enrolled in online programs that led them to borrow $351 million in a single year. 
 
 The government lets graduate students borrow far more than undergrads. Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree can take out no more than about $27,000 from the government, unless they’re married, over age 24 or otherwise independent from their parents. On the other hand, graduate students can borrow the full cost of attendance and wind up with six-figure debt by the time they earn a degree. 
 
 “Policymakers should consider how much graduate lending is sustainable, and examine the value of graduate credentials,” said Elizabeth Baylor, director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. “Degrees in medicine at traditional medical schools offer a clear path to a career with very positive economic outcomes. It’s an expensive education to deliver and the cost students bear makes some sense. However, an online master’s degree, which is cheap to deliver—from an institution with uncertain career outcomes—may not merit unlimited graduate loans.” 
 
 Americans owe more than a trillion dollars in student loan debt. Here's how to pay yours back faster — explained with dominoes. (Gillian Brockell and Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) 
 
 Want to read more about the student loans? Check out these stories: 
 
 Is graduate school worth the cost? Here’s how to know. 
 
 A guide to paying off your student loans 
 
 Sidelined by disability and saddled with student loans 
 
 There’s a way to dramatically lower student debt payments, but hardly anyone use it ||||| 
 
 In this Oct. 6, 2011 photo, Gan Golan of Los Angeles, dressed as the “Master of Degrees,” holds a ball and chain representing his college loan debt during Occupy DC activities in (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) 
 
 Getting an advanced degree doesn’t come cheap, which is why graduate students carry nearly half of all student debt. But it turns out that a handful of schools are responsible for a large share of that money. 
 
 A new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 20 universities received one-fifth, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of loans the government gave graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year. Those schools, however, only educate 12 percent of all graduate students. 
 
 What’s striking about the Center’s findings is that a majority of the debt taken to attend the 20 schools on its list is not for law or medical degrees that promise hefty paydays. Most graduate students at those schools are seeking master’s degrees in journalism, fine arts or government, according to CAP. 
 
 [It’s about to get cheaper to borrow for college] 
 
 Still, at two foreign medical schools, St. George’s University in Grenada and Ross University in Dominica, students borrowed more than $200 million in a single school year. Medical schools in the Caribbean are often a refuge for students rejected from top American schools, but their tuition easily rival schools in the United States. Tuition for one semester at Ross, for instance, costs up to $21,710. 
 
 It’s not exactly shocking that pricey private schools like New York University, Georgetown University and George Washington University made the list–tuition alone at all three schools is well over $40,000 a year. But the eight for-profit colleges, including University of Phoenix and Capella University, may raise some eyebrows. 
 
 Indeed, students borrowed the most amount of money, $756 million, to attend Walden University, a for-profit school that specializes in offering graduate degrees in education, healthcare and business. The second highest loan balance on the list is attributed to Nova Southeastern University, a private college in Florida where 59 percent of students are working toward graduate degrees online. 
 
 Although online programs are billed as time and cost effective, schools like Nova and Liberty University prove otherwise. About 98 percent of graduate students at Liberty, founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, are enrolled in online programs that led them to borrow $351 million in a single year. 
 
 The government lets graduate students borrow far more than undergrads. Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree can take out no more than about $27,000 from the government, unless they’re married, over age 24 or otherwise independent from their parents. On the other hand, graduate students can borrow the full cost of attendance and wind up with six-figure debt by the time they earn a degree. 
 
 “Policymakers should consider how much graduate lending is sustainable, and examine the value of graduate credentials,” said Elizabeth Baylor, director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. “Degrees in medicine at traditional medical schools offer a clear path to a career with very positive economic outcomes. It’s an expensive education to deliver and the cost students bear makes some sense. However, an online master’s degree, which is cheap to deliver—from an institution with uncertain career outcomes—may not merit unlimited graduate loans.” 
 
 Americans owe more than a trillion dollars in student loan debt. Here's how to pay yours back faster — explained with dominoes. (Gillian Brockell,Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) 
 
 Want to read more about the student loans? Check out these stories: 
 
 Is graduate school worth the cost? Here’s how to know. 
 
 A guide to paying off your student loans 
 
 Sidelined by disability and saddled with student loans 
 
 There’s a way to dramatically lower student debt payments, but hardly anyone use it ||||| Rutgers University, New Jersey’s premier public university, continues to dominate top spots in several national college rankings — it ranks 26th among the nation’s top public schools and 30th in campus ethnic diversity, among other accolades. 
 
 But the university’s most recent ranking is one that university administration and prospective students may find less favorable. Of all the public institutions in the country, Rutgers has the most graduate student debt. 
 
 According to the Washington Post, the Center for American Progress, a non-partisan public policy think tank, released a report earlier this month, which found that just 20 U.S. universities accounted for $6.5 billion — or one-fifth — of all federal student loan debt for the 2013-2014 academic year. 
 
 Ranked 19th on the list was Rutgers University, the only public college to appear in the top 20 alongside pricy private universities like New York University and for-profit colleges like the University of Phoenix. 
 
 Ava Lorenzo, an out-of-state graduate student at Rutgers’ campus in New Brunswick, N.J., was not surprised to learn the university was the top public college in the nation in terms of graduate student debt. 
 
 She says she has met many in-state students who do not qualify for sufficient federal aid but whose parents’ income are not high enough to finance their full tuition and fees. 
 
 “A lot of my friends’ parents who live in New Jersey make a decent salary,” Lorenzo says. “[But] this salary is not enough to fund college completely and also not enough for these students to receive wage-based grants from the federal government. Therefore, most of these kids had to take out a significant amount in loans.” 
 
 While Lorenzo funded most of her undergraduate expenses with income-based grants and scholarships, she says she is paying for her doctorate degree with loans. 
 
 She adds, “I know [the debt] is adding up, but getting a doctoral degree should mean that I will make enough to live comfortably despite having a loan bill to pay each month.” 
 
 In addition, Rutgers has one of the highest tuition rates in the nation among state colleges. And while graduate students enrolled at the university received more than $192 million in federal loans in 2013-2014 academic year, undergraduate students at Rutgers received more than $230,962,547 in federal loans that same year, according to the university’s official 2013-2014 financial aid report. 
 
 Candice Yeung, an undergraduate student at the Rutgers campus in Newark, N.J. who is considering enrolling in a graduate program in the next few years, says undergraduate debt alone can be so crippling that it becomes a major factor in the decision to pursue an advanced degree. 
 
 “Students spend four years paying or taking out loans for education and in addition to that, there are meal plans and dorm payments for those who choose to dorm at school,” she says. “Then, there are the textbooks, the supplies and the extra accessories that professors demand for a class. Even with jobs, it is hard to maintain a stable financial status in college. To be honest, I try to not think about my student loans. It makes me wonder if I’m going to graduate school or if law school is even worth it.” 
 
 While the university offers graduate students scholarships and other financial aid resources — including the Eagleton and Ralph Bunche fellowships — federal student loans remain the primary source of aid, according to NJ.com. 
 
 Historically, Americans journeyed to the nation’s top public schools to pursue either an undergraduate or graduate education with an expectation of affordability due to government investment. 
 
 Elizabeth Baylor, the director of postsecondary education at Center for American Progress and author the new report, argued in a 2014 analysis that cuts in-state funding of public colleges have made a bachelor’s degree or advanced degree very unaffordable for students across the country. 
 
 “In response to the fiscal crisis, the majority of state governments charted a budgetary course that reduced direct support to public colleges and universities, which, not surprisingly, coincided with the increasing unaffordability of these institutions,” Baylor said. “To make up for the funding cuts, public colleges increased their reliance on tuition revenue, which unduly burdened low- and moderate-income families.” 
 
 Rutgers University – much like other public colleges — has had to increase tuition in response to state disinvestment in recent years, thus forcing more students to rely more heavily on loans to finance their education. 
 
 The university’s board just approved a 2.3% tuition hike in undergraduate tuition and fees and approved similar increases of approximately 2.3% for most graduate students for the 2015-2016 academic year on Thursday.
– Just one public university made it on the list of the top 20 US colleges receiving the most graduate-student loan money—an elite group that received 20%, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of funds loaned to graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year, the Washington Post reports. According to a study from the Center for American Progress, New Jersey's Rutgers University—No. 26 on this year's US News & World Report list of top public colleges in the nation—squeaked in at No. 19, holding its own with NYU, Columbia, and 17 other private schools. USA Today notes that Rutgers is among the pricier public schools in the nation, and NJ.com notes that it just hiked tuition about 2.3% for both undergrad and grads for the upcoming academic year. Students aren't surprised: "A lot of my friends' parents who live in New Jersey make a decent salary," an out-of-state grad student at Rutgers tells USA Today. "[But it's] not enough to fund college completely and also not enough for these students to receive wage-based grants from the federal government." (Check out the 19 private schools that make the loan-heavy list at the Washington Post.)