PORTLAND - University students are facing even higher tuitions as they return to campus this month, yet more fallout from spending cuts made in the last Legislature.

Students are paying more, often for fewer class hours.

Lynne and David Augsburger, who have three children, went back to school at Portland State University three years ago but David's income plunged with the economy.

Now they wonder if they can make it.

They have hit the maximum in student loans and have learned things they never wanted to know, such as how to apply for food stamps for the kids they adopted out of foster care.

"It's one of those things that you kind of look at each other and go, 'Are we going to make it?'" said Lynne, 35, an English major who wants to be a community college instructor.

Statewide, the increases affect undergraduates such as the Augsburgers who want to take more than three academic courses per term.

In 1980, taxpayers covered 69 percent of the cost of educating a student at a public university in Oregon. Today, they cover 38 percent.

At PSU, the cost for an undergraduate to take four, four-credit courses rose $90 this term. In the past, the Augsburgers loaded up on courses to graduate as quickly as possible.

Because of the increase, both are taking fewer classes, which will postpone graduation.

The latest tuition jump is one of several factors - textbook costs, child care and gas among them - that slow them down.

The Legislature reduced support by 8 percent for Oregon's seven public universities this academic year. In response, university presidents proposed the increases, on top of increases and surcharges imposed during 2002-03.

PSU, Oregon Institute of Technology, Southern Oregon University and Western Oregon University are phasing in the increases.

In the past, students have been able to take 12 to 18 credits a term - 15 is the state average - and pay the same rate.

For winter and spring terms, those schools shrunk the range of credits students can take at the flat rate.

At PSU, that means undergraduates still pay a flat rate for 12 to 15 credits. However, most academic courses carry four credits each. With the tuition increase, a student who takes four, four-credit courses this term will exceed the flat rate range and pay an additional $90.

Nearly 2,000 PSU undergraduates last fall took 16 credits each at a cost of $1,426. This term, the same credits will cost 6 percent more.

At the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Eastern Oregon University, the flat rates are gone this term.

An OSU undergraduate who took 12 to 18 credits last fall paid $1,573. This term a student still will pay $1,573 for 12 credits - but will pay $1,648 for 15 credits.

At PSU, a backlog in the financial aid office has prevented some students from paying tuition.

The financial aid staff, plus three temporary hires, are working nights and Saturdays. The university says it will waive late fees and interest for students affected by the backlog.

Tuition increases are taking a toll on full-time graduate students, as well. Aspiring teachers in PSU's graduate school of education must take 16 credits per term to complete the one-year program. With the tuition increase an in-state graduate student will pay $3,521 for 16 credits - $976 more than last fall.

Carol Mack, associate dean of the graduate school, said tuition increases are a reasonable way to raise money. But she worries about the long-term impact, particularly those who face financial hurdles, who may no longer be able to afford PSU.

"We're losing a lot of really highly qualified people," she said.