The cost of undergraduate education at the University of the Pacific will jump by $1,520 this fall under a new tuition and fee schedule approved by its Board of Regents.

The 4.9 percent increase brings the annual cost of an undergraduate education to $32,580 for students who live on campus and have a meal plan.

Pacific expects it will generate more than $5 million in additional revenue.

Freshman Carly Auch, 19, of Bakersville knew about the tuition hike because of a letter sent out to students and parents earlier this year. She said she plans to work as a resident assistant to help with costs.

"It makes it really hard," said Auch, a pre-pharmacy major. "I'm middle class, and I'm going to need more loans."

Auch said she hopes Pacific will offer more financial aid to offset the increase.

"I already feel the price of school is expensive," she said.

Patrick Cavanaugh, Pacific's vice president of business and finance, said Tuesday the board voted in January to increase tuition, room and board and other fees to provide a superior, student-centered learning environment, maintain financial strength and to protect Pacific's national reputation as one the best values in education.

"We need the revenue to advance the university on where it wants to go," Cavanaugh said.

"But we have to be sensitive of getting our rates to be competitive."

Pacific is a private university whose board meetings are not open to the public. The board will decide whether to raise tuition for its law and dental schools May 7.

Pacific compared its undergraduate tuition rates with eight other private universities such as Pepperdine University, Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco. The self-ranking shows Pacific's annual tuition is slightly less than those universities.

Pacific expects the additional revenue will be used for capital improvements on campus as well as salary adjustments for faculty and staff so it can attract and maintain the best employees and health-care and retirement benefits, Cavanaugh said.

Pacific expects to enroll 765 freshmen this fall and 780 freshmen in fall 2005. Pacific's Stockton campus has about 3,400 undergraduate students.

"I'm not worried about the cost," said Daniel Bastine, a 19-year-old freshman from Los Angeles.

"I have loans to pay for it. I just hope in the long run my education can pay for it."

Bastine said the tuition hike will discourage people who are thinking of attending Pacific.

"We might lose potential students because of it," he said.

Pacific officials maintain a portion of the additional revenue will go toward a $30 million financial-aid budget for students.

The cost of attending Pacific has increased by 34.5 percent since 1996. Still, Pacific in 2003 ranked as one of the 50 best values for the third-consecutive year among the nation's universities that grant doctoral degrees, according to U.S. News & World Report. Pacific is ranked 30th on that list.

"The students have to recognize they get a good value here for the quality of education here," Cavanaugh said.

"They see the investments in new facility, new technology, the assistance of top-quality faculty."

Lucy Chandler, 20, of Pixley understands that. Chandler, a junior majoring in business administration, is financing her education with Cal Grants matched by Pacific and by loans. She doesn't mind the increase.

Employers notice the name University of the Pacific on a diploma, she said. Chandler owes about $30,000 in loans.

"The education we get here is beneficial to us partly because of the school's reputation. ... I still want to finish out here. I can always take out a loan and pay it back," she said.

The 420 students who attend Pacific's three-year dental school in San Francisco pay $56,270 a year in tuition. Regents could bump that up by 4.1 percent, to $58,565 this fall.

Law school students at Pacific's Sacramento campus pay $27,698 in annual tuition. The proposal is to increase that by 5.5 percent, to $29,222.

The total budget for all three Pacific campuses is about $154 million.