The College Board announced Tuesday that tuition and fees are up for the 2005-06 academic year on average by 7.1 percent at public four-year institutions, 5.4 percent at public two-year institutions and 5.9 percent at private four-year institutions. For room and board as well, increases are the largest at public, four-year institutions. Wayne State University Provost Nancy Barrett commented about the steady decline in state appropriations and capped tuition on the university's financial operations. She pointed out that the university had to eliminate 200 staff jobs, 75 through layoffs, in fiscal 2004, and has also closed one college and combined two others to save on administrative costs. "We literally couldn't pay our bills," Barrett said. Speaking about Wayne State 's recent 18.5 percent tuition hike, Barrett said, "We have deferred maintenance and students waiting two weeks for advisors, so we decided to bite the bullet."