The University’s highest governing body approved increases in undergraduate and graduate student financial aid for the upcoming fiscal year at a meeting Friday.

The Board of Trustees ratified a $4 million increase in undergraduate aid and an $8.6 million increase for graduate aid, out of the University’s $829.3 million capital budget for fiscal year 2013.

Financial aid comprised nearly a quarter of the University’s total operating budget, up from 20 percent of last year’s total.

The undergraduate financial aid pool is a 3 percent increase from last year’s $159 million.

“The new aid will enable us to meet the needs of both our continuing students and the incoming students who have accepted our offer,” Executive Vice President and Treasurer Lou Katz said in an email.

Katz said the $163.4 million undergraduate financial aid pool is $10 million more than what he expects to spend on financial aid by the end of this fiscal year June 30.

The amount of aid the University doles out each year is based on several factors, Katz said, including overall economic conditions, the size and makeup of each class, that year’s cost of attendance and endowed or federal support that supplement the University’s funds.

The board also voted to continue the fixed-tuition program that anchors incoming students’ tuition and financial aid for a total of five years.