The University of North Dakota's law school wants to begin a series of steep tuition increases this fall, which includes four consecutive years' worth of 15 percent annual rises for newly enrolled students.

The Board of Higher Education's budget, audit and finance committee endorsed the changes Monday. They still must be reviewed by the full board, and by the Legislature's Budget Section, an interim committee.

UND's law school tuition is relatively cheap when matched against comparable universities in other states, according to a memo outlining the proposed increases. They are intended to raise tuition collections from $1.6 million to $3.04 million in the 2011-12 academic year.

The higher rates will provide money for faculty pay increases, a new law school faculty position, funds for student teaching and research assistants, and support for the school's law review, legal research service and moot court, which allows law students to practice courtroom skills.

The board's three-member budget committee includes two lawyers, Richie Smith of Wahpeton and Jon Backes of Minot. The third member is John Q. Paulsen of Fargo, who is the president of the full board.

"It's a tremendous increase. I can assure you that the salaries of starting-out North Dakota lawyers are not increasing, at least in North Dakota, at nearly that rate," Backes said.

However, Backes added, "I do understand the need of the law school to provide sufficient funding to fund its faculty expenses and its programs."

Beginning this fall, law students would pay a per-hour tuition charge for each class they take, with no upper limit. UND's law school now has about 250 students.

Resident students now pay $6,069 in tuition for a year's instruction, according to the law school memo outlining the changes.

Current students would see their tuition costs rise by 7.3 percent, to $6,510, during the 2008-09 school year. It would be followed by a 10.1 percent increase the following year, to $7,170. The figures assume 15 hours of class work for each of two semesters.

Current students from the three states and two Canadian provinces bordering North Dakota would pay 150 percent of the resident rate, while students from other locations would pay double the resident rate, the memo says.

For new students, the tuition increases would be steeper. A law student enrolling this fall would pay $6,979 for the 2008-09 school year, an increase of 15 percent from current rates.

Under the plan, the beginning rate for new students would increase another 15 percent for each of the next three years. In 2011-12, new students would pay $10,620 a year in tuition.

The law school's dean, Paul LeBel, consulted with law students about the proposed increases. The original plan was to implement them over three years, but the schedule was stretched to four years, the memo describing the changes says.

"Although students would prefer not to have tuition increases, they were generally supportive of the plan and the resulting benefits," it said.