FRANKFORT — Students at Northern Kentucky University will face a stiff tuition increase next school year, officials said Wednesday, but no additional fees to help cover the cost of building an on-campus arena.

        That project, university President James Votruba said, must be borne by the taxpayers, although state lawmakers say no funds are available.

        To help pay for the $32.5 million renovation of its athletic arena, Western Kentucky University imposed an $80 fee on every student.

        But Dr. Votruba said he won't consider student fees to pay for NKU's arena.

        “We've looked at that very carefully, but I'm not prepared to put that on the backs of students,” Dr. Votruba said Wednesday in the state Capitol, where the NKU Board of Regents held its monthly meeting.

        “I'm probably going to recommend a tuition (increase) that is hefty. We're going to have to do that. But this (arena) is a community initiative that needs to be supported with public funds.”

        Recent cuts in the state budget and other factors, including the slowing economy, are forcing the tuition increase, though Dr. Votruba did not say when the increase will be announced or how much it will be.

        The state budget shortfall of $700 million is also the main reason NKU officials have been told not to expect any money for projects such as the proposed $45 million arena this year.

        “I'm not hearing a thing” about money for the arena, Dr. Votruba said. “What I'm hearing is there will be no capital projects.”

        But Dr. Votruba said he is still optimistic that when the session ends in mid-April with the passage of the state budget, at least some money for the arena will be allocated.

        “I am still assuming that at the end of the session there is a good likelihood there will be some capital projects, and my hope is the special-events center will be one of them,” he said.

        “This session is just 2 weeks old. We still have a long way to go. A lot happens over the next 50 days. I'm still hopeful. I think we've made a strong case, we've got bipartisan support, we've got community support.”

        NKU is the only state school in Kentucky without a major campus arena. Gov. Paul Patton, House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, members of Northern Kentucky's legislative caucus and other lawmakers support building the arena provided money is available.

        The arena is also the top project supported by the Northern Kentucky Consensus Committee, a group of more than 80 political, government, business and community leaders that lobby Frankfort to fund local capital projects.

        Western Kentucky University is using a combination of student fees, naming rights, and the leasing of suites to fund the renovation of 39-year-old Diddle Arena.

        Two Northern Kentucky lawmakers — House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, and Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills — are working to help NKU sell the naming rights to the arena to a corporation. The sale could bring as much as $6 million.

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