State officials reached a stalemate on more than $5 billion in proposed budget cuts Tuesday, as the SUNY Board of Trustees agreed on its budget for the 2009-10 year during separate meetings in Albany.

SUNY called for a tuition increase of $310 per semester for in-state undergraduate students and $1,130 for out-of-state undergraduate students, effective spring 2009. On Nov. 12, Gov. David Paterson proposed cuts that would have increased tuition by $300 per semester, of which only 10 percent would return to SUNY, with the rest returning to the state.

However, SUNY’s proposal would keep more tuition money in the SUNY system.

“The University’s budget request reflects the current fiscal crisis, ensures access for current and future students, maintains academic quality and supports research and economic development,” said Carl Hayden, SUNY Board of Trustees chairman. “All of this assumes, of course, that there are no additional reductions to SUNY operating support.”

Gov. Paterson, expected to release the state executive budget on Dec. 16, does not have to accept SUNY’s proposal. According to spokesman David Henahan, SUNY does not need the state legislature’s approval to collect tuition increases, but does need its permission to use the additional resources.

Both Binghamton University students and administrators have spoken out against the governor’s plan since its proposal. The Student Assembly passed a resolution Monday calling for more money to be kept in-house. In a statement Thursday, Binghamton University President Lois B. DeFleur agreed.

“The Board is trying to make a strong case for SUNY which would include adequate state support,” she said.

On Sunday Paterson and more than 200 legislators met in an emergency session to take on what they agreed was a fiscal crisis of historic proportion. Paterson decided to suspend any cuts in the current budget, which has a projected $1.5 billion to $2 billion deficit, until at least January.

The proposed budget cuts come at a time when SUNY’s enrollment is at an all-time high. In a statement made Thursday, SUNY announced that 439,624 students enrolled this fall, an increase of 12,226 students, or 2.9 percent, over last fall. There are 64 SUNY campuses.

“In a time of difficult economic challenges for students and their families, SUNY clearly is the right choice for an accessible, affordable and high-quality higher education experience,” Hayden said.

In addition to appropriate state support, SUNY’s budget request is aimed at reaching three other ends: a rational tuition policy, which calls for a gradual, consistent increase instead of the every-five-years system SUNY has been operating under, more public-private partnerships and fewer state regulations on the system.

The rational tuition policy would implement annual and predictable increases based on the Higher Education Price Index, a measure of inflation in regards to the needs of higher education calculated by Commonfund, a financial institution. The proposed $310 semester increase totals two HEPI units.

The final annual tuition rate for fall 2009 is proposed to be $4,970, with the following years to be determined in accordance with HEPI. Out-of-state tuition for undergrads will increase $1,130 for spring 2009.

Gov. Paterson’s proposal calls for a rational increase as well. Tuition hasn’t been raised since 2003.

— Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.