Once again, NIU students might have to dig deeper into their pockets, bank accounts or parents’ sympathies in search for enough money to cover higher tuition costs.

A $125 tuition surcharge has raised tuition costs for full-time NIU students from $732 to $857 for the spring semester.

However, NIU students were not alone in their search for the extra funds. Students at other state universities, faced with a similar tuition hike, also were scrounging for the extra money they needed.

The Board of Regents, which governs NIU, Illinois State University and Sangamon State University, was the only Illinois governing board to approve an increase due to a surcharge.

In September, the Board of Governors approved a straight tuition increase at Western Illinois University effective this semester. John Maguire, director of university relations at WIU, said tuition increased $120.

Students at Southern Illinois University also paid flat tuition increases. The SIU Board of Trustees approved tuition increases for both SIU campuses, also effective this semester. Tuition at the SIU campus in Carbondale increased $241.20 per year. The increase raised yearly tuition costs to $1,560 at that campus.

Students attending the SIU-Edwardsville campus, which is on a quarter semester system, paid an extra $182.10 per year. Yearly tuition there increased from $1,278.90 to $1,461.

The Regents approved $125 tuition surcharges at NIU, ISU and SSU on Sept. 15, 1988. The Regents also agreed to continuing the surcharge indefinitely until they vote to remove it.