JACKSON (AP) — Tuition is increasing at most of Mississippi’s public universities next year.

Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the increases at a meeting on Thursday. 

In-state public university students will pay $222 more a year on average, a 2.8 percent increase from last year. Out-of-state students will pay $358 more on average, a 3 percent increase.

Jackson State University is the only institution that did not request to increase its tuition, so its attendance fee will stay the same. The university to increase its tuition for Mississippi residents the most was Alcorn State University in Lorman at 3.7 percent. The annual cost will increase by $269, from $7,297 to $ 7,566.

The average in-state tuition for the fall will be $8,219. The average tuition for non-residents is $12,273.

Mississippi State University in Starkville was the school to increase its out-of-state tuition the most. The 4 percent increase will move tuition $950 higher from $23,840 to $24,790.

In-state tuition in surrounding states was at least 25 percent higher than tuition at Mississippi schools during the 2019 fiscal year, according to data shared by the Institutions of Higher Learning finance committee via the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System.

For example, in Tennessee, the average tuition was $10,394 for in-state students in 2019, compared to $7,726 in Mississippi that year.

The average undergraduate student in Mississippi owes $36,700 in student loans, according to EducationData.org.

The Legislature approved enough money to allow for 1 percent pay increases for employees of the state’s public universities and community colleges in July. The raises will be up to the discretion of each institution based on performance. One employee can receive up to a 5 percent pay raise, while another may receive nothing.