The City University of New York is proposing to raise undergraduate tuition 25 percent to $4,000 next year from $3,200, for in-state students at its senior colleges.

The $800 increase would be its first since 1995 and is significantly lower than the $1,200 increase recommended by Gov. George E. Pataki in his executive budget and the $950 increase called for in the budget approved by the State Legislature.

A committee of CUNY trustees approved the increase yesterday, backing a proposal made by CUNY's chancellor, Matthew Goldstein. The full board is expected to act at its next monthly meeting, on June 23.

The CUNY board's fiscal affairs committee, which met yesterday evening, also approved a $300-a-year increase, to $2,800, for New York residents who are full-time students at its community colleges. It approved a 25 percent increase, to $5,440, for in-state residents who are full-time students in its masters degree programs, and also approved a 25 percent increase, to $7,130, for its law school students. Doctoral students from New York would face a 12 percent increase to $4,870; out-of-state doctoral students would pay $475 a credit.

These increases, too, are subject to the approval of the full board.

Dr. Goldstein said that in the face of state cutbacks in support, he had tried to allow CUNY to build its full-time faculty and still hold down tuition for its neediest students.

"We need to be mindful of the most vulnerable among us," he said. "We have a large number of students who lead very complex lives and for whom large tuition increases will have a chilling effect."

CUNY, which has more than 200,000 students and has seen both enrollment and applications grow in recent years, is projecting a 1 percent decline in enrollment next year.

The mood at the committee meeting last night was somber, but the tone was civil, as both students and faculty members acknowledged CUNY's efforts to hold tuition down, but predicted a harmful impact on students.

"A lot of students at the university feel this is an outrageous number," said Shamsul Haque, the student trustee. "A lot of students will not be able to come."

He asked the university to reconsider its plan to replace its flat $6,800 tuition for full-time, out-of-state students with a $360-per-credit fee. He also asked that CUNY find a way to help students who could not afford the increases to stay in school.

Officials of CUNY said they expected to be able to set up a scholarship fund for such students, and said that they would consider Mr. Haque's other request as well.

A La Guardia Community College student from Colombia, who spoke on the condition that she not be named, said the increases would be particularly hard for students like her, who are limited in their ability to hold jobs in the United States.

"It was hard already," said the student, who is studying business management. "Now I'm not going to be able to pay my tuition."

She said she and other students from abroad did not have the same scholarship opportunities as their American classmates, and might need to find jobs. "They are forcing us to break the law," she said.

The trustees gave the chancellor the authority to impose a larger increase of up to $950 if necessary later. But Joseph J. Lhota, chairman of the fiscal committee, said that he thought it would not be necessary.

Miriam Kramer, the higher education coordinator for New York Public Interest Research Group, said students "are already paying more than their fair share" of the cost of both CUNY and the State University of New York. "But we appreciate CUNY's efforts to limit the increase and keep public higher education affordable," she said, "and we hope that SUNY follows suit."

In January, SUNY's trustees approved a budget based on a 41 percent tuition increase — or $1,400 — for state residents who are full-time undergraduates at its four-year campuses, even more than the increase later proposed by Governor Pataki. A SUNY spokesman said yesterday that the university was still considering the tuition issue.