Bolstered by a $16-million increase in state appropriations, the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland voted yesterday to freeze tuition for resident undergraduates for a fourth straight year.

Just last month, Chancellor William E. Kirwan warned that a $21-million cut proposed by the General Assembly would make higher tuition necessary. The regents had considered a 4-percent increase to offset the loss of state money, reported The Sun of Baltimore.

The increase in higher-education spending is a small victory for the university system, considering that Maryland lawmakers had to close a nearly $1.9-billion shortfall for the next budget year. Still, the newspaper reported, the university will raise some fees for undergraduates, as well as tuition for out-of-state undergraduates and for graduate and professional students. —Eric Kelderman