More UA students supported than opposed a possible tuition hike during a forum with regents yesterday, and most agreed that tuition hikes must be packaged with financial aid increases.

Students from a variety of backgrounds told regents they'd support a tuition increase, which would likely be between $400 and $490, as long as it's combined with better financial aid for undergraduates and graduate students.

"You must be willing to support these efforts in a financially bold manner," said Graduate and Professional Student Council President Jani Radebaugh, speaking about the need to grant free tuition to graduate teaching and research assistants. Radebaugh was one of 13 UA students to speak at yesterday's forum, the only public opportunity to address the Arizona Board of Regents before it sets tuition.

Students from around Arizona joined them, voicing widely divergent ideas about tuition hikes at their universities.

President Peter Likins also promised publicly for the first time to protect all resident Pell Grant recipients from the tuition hike.

In effect, that would keep tuition at the same level for the university's neediest students at about $1,800, the same as it was last year. Last year, when tuition rose by $1,000, Likins made a concerted effort to protect those students from paying even a penny of the increase.

"We can and we will one more time protect entirely ... resident Pell Grant recipients," he said.

But Likins also warned next year would be the last time the university would be able to afford to hold these students harmless from tuition hikes, saying they would have to pay at least a portion of future increases. He has proposed a $490 tuition increase for resident students and a $700 increase for nonresidents, a plan that would generate about $15 million in gross revenue.

But the actual amount that would cover costs like faculty salaries and course offerings would be less, because some of that $15 million would go to financial aid, said Budget Director Dick Roberts.

Michelle La Gioia, a molecular and cellular biology junior, agreed that more financial aid options need to be made available to cover people who might not meet traditional qualifications for aid. She transferred to the UA, is ineligible for waivers and scholarships, and can't take out any more loans. Her parents can't support her either, she said.

"I know you need money; I need money," she said. "There seem to be no options for people in my situation."

Student lobbyists' proposal to raise tuition by $400 also came under fire from a former rival, student body President J.P. Benedict, who heads the UA's student lobbyists.

Jered Mansell, who lost to Benedict by about 60 votes in last year's presidential election, criticized the lobbyists' plan as based on "iffy" calculations and estimates, not exact figures.

Students also wouldn't spend the $90 they would save under the lobbyists' plan on necessities like rent and food, he said. After talking with students in his residence hall, Mansell, a resident assistant, said he thought they'd spend the money on Abercrombie jeans and alcohol.

"President Likins and the board of regents really have the best interests of the students in mind," Mansell said, advocating Likins' tuition proposal.

Benedict argued that his proposal keeps increases more stable because it's based on inflation and would likely be followed by an approximately $400 increase next year.

"That just makes it, we think, more predictable for the students," he said.

The sharpest opposition to UA tuition hikes came from students at UA South, in Sierra Vista, who said Sierra Vista's working students would be priced out of an education if tuition rose.

"Students will be discouraged from attending the university," said James Moffett, the campus' student body president.

Students from Northern Arizona University largely agreed that continued tuition hikes could hurt enrollment, and said they hadn't seen benefits from the $1,000 increase passed last year.

Collectively, Arizona State University students were more cautious, with some saying they understood the need to raise more money, but others saying more tuition hikes could make the university unaffordable.

NAU President John Haeger has asked for resident undergraduate tuition to rise by $475 and ASU President Michael Crow has called for a $335 resident undergraduate increase.

Regents will set tuition when they meet March 11 at the UA.

- Keren G. Raz contributed to this report.