The University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved its $1.18 billion budget Wednesday, including a previously scheduled 6.5 percent increase in tuition, for fiscal year 2015.

The new spending plan is $52 million, or 4.6 percent, more than last year’s budget. The increase in funding will help the university hire 61 new faculty members, who will help students get into the courses they need and graduate within four years.

“A growth in faculty will decrease the student-to-faculty ratio ” UConn’s Associate Vice President of Finance and Budget Lysa Teal said. “The ratio will decrease from 16.3 in 2014 to 15.9.”

Of the 61 new faculty positions, 35 will be in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math.

“UConn has added almost 190 new faculty positions since July 2012 to reduce its student-to-faculty ratio,” UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said.

The new plan anticipates that undergraduate enrollment will increase by 676 students, a 5 percent increase from the 2011 fiscal year.

“With excellence, there is a cost,” UConn Board of Trustees Chairman Larry McHugh said.

Here’s how the budget will impact students:

In 2014, in-state student tuition was $9,256. The tuition hike will increase it to $9,858. For out-of-state students, tuition will increase from $28,204 to $30,038.

The total cost of attending UConn for In-state students paying tuition, room and board, and student activity fees will increase from $23,496 to $24,518. Out-of-state students living on campus will see their total cost increase from $42,444 to $44,698.

Despite prior year reductions in state funding, UConn will increase financial aid from $42.6 million in the 2008 fiscal year to $91.9 million for the 2015 fiscal year. UConn’s financial aid has increased 18 percent since 2011.

Eighty-six percent of students receive some form of financial aid. Reitz said that the aid will target to provide for in-state, low income students, who according to a Program Review and Investigations report earlier this year have the hardest time affording the flagship university.

The state’s contribution to UConn’s budget in 2013 — minus the cost of fringe benefits and year-end accounting accruals — was $195.4 million. That figure is forecast to finish 2014 at $202.1 million. The state contribution to the university’s 2015 budget is forecast to be $228.3 million. If the 2014-15 forecasts stay accurate, the state’s contribution to the university will increase $26.2 million, or 12.9 percent, from 2014 to 2015.