The Ithaca College Board of Trustees has approved the budget for the 2010-11 academic year. According to a college announcement earlier today, the total cost of attendance will be increased by 4.8 percent, bringing the cost of tuition, room and board to $45,944.

Tuition at the college next year will be $33,630, with fees for room (standard double occupancy) and board at $12,314.

This is the smallest rate of increase in attendance cost since 2002-03, according to the announcement.

“Last year at this time the College began to make a significant adjustment in the way it conducts its business,” said President Tom Rochon in the announcement. “Permanent cuts in the operating budget and some modest personnel reductions, combined with a record incoming class last fall, have put the College on an exceptionally strong financial footing.”

Rochon said that more than $84 million in the college’s operating budget for next year will go toward financial aid, the largest amount ever, according to the announcement.

For more information on next year’s budget, check back at www.theithacan.org, or see next week’s issue of The Ithacan .