University of California administrators urged the regents Wednesday to reject the nuts and bolts of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to dramatically ratchet up graduate student fees.

Instead, they recommended their own plan to increase those fees by 20 percent -- half of what the governor had recommended -- and offset the lost revenue by increasing undergraduate fees. Hence, undergraduates would carry more of the load and may even subsidize graduate student financial aid.

The proposal was immediately opposed by student representatives.

"You must understand the dramatic impact these decision will have on students," Matt Kaczmarek, a UCLA student and chair of the UC Student Association, told the regents. "The students of this university strongly oppose further fee increases."

Regents received the proposal but did not indicate how they would vote when the matter comes back for approval later this spring.

In his budget proposal, Schwarzenegger proposed a 10 percent undergraduate fee hike and a 40 percent increase for graduate students. But UC officials said Wednesday that the increase for graduate students was too large and would decimate university programs. They instead presented alternatives, including hiking undergraduate fees by 15 percent and dropping the graduate increase to 20 percent.

That would mean a $750 annual increase for undergraduates, raising their total to $6,280. Students attending nonprofessional graduate schools would pay $1,050 more each year, pushing their total to $7,893. The governor's proposal would impose a $2,088 increase.

There were other options, but the staff said the 15-20 plan would bring the university closest to generating the $121 million in savings demanded by the governor.

"The 40 percent is totally out of line with what is reasonable to maintain quality graduate programs and attract quality graduate students," Larry Hershman, UC's vice president for budgets, told the regents during their bimonthly meeting at the UCSF Laurel Heights campus.

None of the options is palatable, Hershman said, but difficult decisions must be made if the university hopes to maintain its quality.

The governor's budget for next fiscal year proposes $370 million in cuts and does not provide any funding for the $100 million the university needs for salary increases, rising health care costs and facilities maintenance.

UC officials said Wednesday that faculty salaries lagged more than 10 percent behind comparable institutions.

"We are on the edge. A great public university cannot be sustained if it is made to absorb deep budget cuts," said UC President Robert Dynes. "The faculty won't stay. The best students won't come."

But students said they were already reeling from earlier fee hikes totaling 40 percent since December 2002. And Hershman told the regents that in addition to any new fee increases, students from families with incomes between about $60,000 and $90,000 would no longer receive university grants.

Dynes said after the meeting he hoped that the state would allocate more money so UC would not have to raise fees excessively.

"I'm an optimist," Dynes added.

Regent Joanne Kozberg said after the meeting that she hadn't made up her mind yet.

"We need to look at all different options," Kozberg said. "I'm not invested in any one yet, but I do think graduate students are critical to the future of our economy. But I also think the undergraduate student fees have gone up very significantly."