It will cost more to attend Lincoln University this fall.
Chief Financial Officer Sandy Koetting told the Board of Curators on Thursday, though, that those increases won't include a tuition hike - unless the state withholds money from LU's budget appropriation.
Still, she asked for and received the board's authority to increase tuition by 2.1 percent, in case a hike were needed in the future.
"This is standard across all of the other (Missouri) higher ed institutions in the event we have withholdings throughout (fiscal year) 2019," Koetting told the board, "then we already have a tuition increase on the books and we could take action rather quickly.
"At this point, our students are struggling with paying the tuition as it is. Even at a 1 percent, we're talking a very small increase, we want to try to build and restructure some of those efforts that we have, ensuring that an education is affordable to our students."
The board told Koetting it still would have the final say whether an increase actually would be put into effect.
The board approved a 3 percent increase for room rates - partly to offset the addition of residence hall desk managers and the equivalent of four full-time "night watchmen" to increase student safety at the university.
Board costs for meals will increase by 5.8 percent for those on the unlimited plan - an 85 cent increase per day - and by 3 percent for those on the five-meal and three-meal food plans.
Curators approved a $36,164,914 operating budget for the business year that begins July 1 and a $7,249,208 auxiliary budget - with the understanding new President Jerald Jones Woolfolk may propose shifts in budget categories after she gets a better understanding of Lincoln operations.
Woolfolk - who started as LU's 20th president two weeks ago - told curators she and Koetting have discussed the school's budget proposal developed by Interim President Mike Middleton.
Board President Marvin Teer said Thursday the Legislature was "very thoughtful in their (budget) process," especially when it came to increasing Lincoln's local match for its federal land grant dollars.
"(They) considered how inadequate that match funding has been (in the past)," he said, "and understand how essential it is for us.
"I cannot say enough good things about the Legislature and their recognition of our need for those funds and for there to be parity (with) other institutions that are eligible for the same or similar funds."
Only Lincoln and the University of Missouri-Columbia are eligible for land grant funding, under the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Acts.
MU's land grant funding is part of its core budget, while Lincoln's has been a separate line-item that, until this year, hasn't been given much money.
Teer would like both schools' budgets to be treated the same way.
But Koetting warned there were pluses and minuses to each way of budgeting those federal dollars - telling the board there appeared to be an advantage to having a separate line item, where LU officials could show "here's our line item and here's what it should be."
The board also approved returning to a policy of requiring students to complete all graduation requirements before they can participate in the commencement.
After Lincoln dropped its Winter Commencement exercises several years ago, the curators in 2014 allowed students to walk in the May graduation ceremonies if they had less than seven credit hours left to complete in their course work - if they completed that work in the summer.
But, Debra Greene, LU's provost and interim vice president for Academic Affairs, told the board in a May 22 memo: "Of the 125 students allowed to participate in commencement without completing all academic requirements, 60 (or 48 percent) did not complete in the summer term.
"As a result, Lincoln has a growing list of students who have not completed their requirements to graduate (and) negatively impacts the university's national graduation rate."
Teer said after Thursday's meeting: "I think it's a recognition of the responsibility that a student has (to) be receiving your diploma at the end of your (educational) race.
"We don't want our students to lose sight that the receipt of that diploma is the ultimate goal.
"Nothing more could be as important as that - as much as the graduation ceremony itself is a wonderful celebration."
Curators revised a course registration policy so more students can register for classes earlier and ended a policy that non-degree-seeking and visiting students could register only the day before classes began.
"We find that our visiting students, by restricting them to the day before classes start for registration, we're limiting our enrollment," Jennifer Benne, LU's assistant provost and College of Arts and Sciences dean, told the board.
"It will still allow advanced registration for our current students; they still will get first-choice."
Woolfolk told curators she was settling in to her new job, which began June 1.
"We've been very busy," she said, noting, "My first day on the job, I was in Atlanta for the Atlanta Alumni chapter meeting."
She also attended the National Alumni Convention in St. Louis, with more than 130 LU alums, many of whom she met.
In Jefferson City, Woolfolk said, she's been meeting with members of her executive team. She also attended the Boys & Girls Clubs' fundraiser and was a featured speaker at the Juneteenth celebration.
"There are some challenges," she said, "but as I've said, challenges don't frighten us.
"We're going to move forward and make this an even better institution."