The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees voted to hike tuition across all five campuses. UMass Boston, a school that faces a $22 million budget gap, will increase its tuition the largest amount. (Courtesy of the University of Massachusetts)

Students at the University of Massachusetts can expect higher tuition bills next fall. The UMass Board of Trustees today voted to hike tuition across all five campuses by 5.8 percent.

The average tuition of combined UMass Boston, UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School will be $13,862, with the highest hike at UMass Boston - students there will pay $2,103 more in tuition.

UMass says the Board had to approve the tuition hike because with tax revenues down, the five-campus system didn't get the state funding it had expected.

"I believe that in following this course, we will be preserving the quality that the citizens of the Commonwealth need and expect," President Marty Meehan said in a statement. "We will do everything we can to protect students and families with need via financial aid."

The Board had also increased tuition last year by 5 percent. Before that, there had been a two-year freeze.

Meanwhile, with the UMass system facing an $85 million budget shortfall, UMass Boston announced last month that it's planning to cut hundreds of teaching positions before the fall semester begins. 

Earlier: Ahead of Inauguration, UMass President Marty Meehan Details Challenges Ahead