Students might think twice about dropping classes next semester after the Board of Regents made the practice pricier.

The board voted to change the add/drop fee for next semester from $20 to $50 instead of charging a $30 fee on top of tuition for each credit hour a student takes exceeding 15 hours.

The board also approved a 4 percent tuition increase.

The board’s meeting agenda contained a proposal to charge a $30 fee for each credit hour a student takes exceeding 15 hours.

But the Student Government Association and administrators compromised to increase the add/drop fee instead.

President Gary Ransdell said in the meeting that he was pleased with the compromise.

“It’s a great piece of work on both parties’ part,” he said in the meeting.

Ransdell previously said administrators wanted the $30 fee to offset the cost of added course sections that become unnecessary when students start dropping classes a couple weeks into the semester.

Student Regent Reagan Gilley said the add/drop fee deals with the course shopping problem that administrators worry about more directly than the $30 fee would have.

He said the $30 fee would have affected people who took more than 15 hours a semester because they’re trying to double major whereas the increased add/drop fee affects course shoppers.

Gilley said SGA senators took an informal vote at their meeting last week, and almost all of them preferred increasing the add/drop fee to adding the $30 fee.

The add/drop fee will only be charged to students who add or drop classes after a certain date, and students who add or drop classes early in the semester won’t be charged the fee, Gilley said.

Ann Mead, vice president for finance and administration, said the university will continue assessing the charge to students taking more than 18 hours.

Now, the fee is about $300 for every extra course.

The increased add/drop fee won’t be the only thing students see increase next semester. Students face a 4 percent tuition increase.

The Council on Postsecondary Education set a 4 percent cap this year on tuition increases for regional universities including Western.

Regents went with the 4 percent increase, which will be used to pay for fixed-cost increases and to make up where state funding has slacked off.

Gilley said he understood the rationale behind the tuition increase because it will pay for things that help students, including utilities.

“Without that, the buildings wouldn’t be available,” he said.

But Gilley said he didn’t vote for the increase because he represents the student body, and he doesn’t want tuition to go up.

The increase has to be approved by CPE at its May 22 meeting.