The Board of Trustees voted Friday to increase the total cost of attendance by about 3 percent.

The increase marks the ninth year of about 3 percent sticker price increases, which include tuition, fees and room and board. It will be the second year that tuition has been more than $50,000, with an about 3 percent increase.

Last year, officials funneled a portion of the 3.4 percent tuition increase to increasing mental health resources on campus, but the board did not vote to put this year’s increase toward a specific area. The funds last year partially paid for hiring new mental health faculty, programming and training, and was the first time the allocation was set aside for any particular purpose.

The board also signed off on another year of fixed tuition, which locks in tuition for returning students. The policy has been in place since 2004.

GW received 28 percent more applications for the class of 2020 this year, which officials attributed partly to a test-optional policy that was put in place last summer.

The University is reliant on tuition revenue for 75 percent of its operating budget.

At the end of last semester, University President Steven Knapp announced 3 to 5 percent cuts to all central administrative units each year for the next five years. Those cuts follow 5 percent budget cuts to the same divisions last year after an unexpected decline in graduate enrollment.