The University graduate program is “a pretty good bargain” compared to its peers, interim Dean David Constant said.The Legislature approved House Bill 872 by Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, this summer. The bill authorizes the LSU Board of Supervisors to impose increases in tuition beginning this fall, meaning a $30 increase per credit hour for graduate students.Constant said it’s still too early to tell the effect on enrollment, although the school expects the number of graduate students to increase to nearly 5,000 based on the application pool. The University had 4,794 graduate and professional students in 2008.Recruitment programs are being developed to bring that number closer to 6,000 for next fall, he said.An in-state graduate student taking 15 hours can expect to pay $3,078.70 for tuition and fees this fall, compared to $2,547.70 in 2008, according to records from the Office of Budget and Planning.Average graduate tuition for peer institutions is $7,619 this year, according to a report by IPEDS Peer Analysis System, an online data comparison system operated by the National Center for Education Statistics.Still, many students are struggling to gather additional funds for the fall. Nadia Miskowiec, French graduate student, said she’s had to apply for additional financial aid because of the increase. “I have to graduate by a certain date, so I paid anyway, but I wasn’t too happy,” said Miskowiec, who’s still waiting on a response from the Office of Financial Aid. Students on scholarship are finding it less difficult to adjust. “I understand that they had to raise the fee because the University is undergoing budget cuts,” said Rebecca Bond, history graduate student.The increase didn’t affect her choice of classes, Bond said, because she has a graduate assistantship. The school also offers waivers and exemptions to the increase for students who demonstrate the need for financial assistance, Constant said.—-Contact Olga Kourilova at [email protected]