CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The UNC Board of Trustees has approved a plan to raise tuition by $400 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The one-year increase, which affects in-state and graduate students, is expected to raise $9.5 million for the university.

The money will be used for faculty pay raises, new faculty hires, reduced class sizes and graduate student teaching stipends. About 40 percent of the increase will go to help needy students with financial aid.

In protest of the proposed tuition hike, dozens of students marched from the Old Well to the Morehead Planetarium, where the meeting was held Thursday morning.

Students told the board of trustees that $400 is too much.

"If they continue to raise tuition, it's going to be a serious problem. It's a matter of setting a precedent. If they set a precedent of raising tuition this year, they are going to continue raising tuition, and when I have kids, I won't be able to send them to UNC," said student Catherine Fields.

The proposal follows two years of tuition increases, in addition to a 4-percent UNC System hike and a 4-percent General Assembly tuition increase last year.

The increase means in-state undergraduate students will have to pay $2,728 for the 2002-2003 school year.

At the meeting, trustees listened to a proposal from a tuition task force made up of students, faculty, administrators and trustees.

Provost Robert Shelton said that the plan will help UNC-Chapel Hill balance important needs for faculty and students.

"It is a delicate balance among the many sources of support for the institution. It's something where we need to give predictability as much as we can to the students and their parents," Shelton said.

Students said that the university did not seek enough student input, even though four students were on the task force.

Thursday, students asked trustees to investigate other revenue sources, including the General Assembly.

Students said that every time the university raises tuition, it gives the General Assembly permission to cut back on the university's budget.

They said that they will take their arguments to the UNC Board of Governors, which must approve the UNC-Chapel Hill plan.