Montana's Board of Regents endorsed plans Thursday for some additional fee increases at state colleges.

Last month the board delayed the final decision on some fees after approving a 3 percent increase in tuition at the flagship university campuses and a similar increase in base fees.

Thursday the board approved some miscellaneous new fees that varied greatly from school to school. Many were specific to certain programs or classes.

The motion to approve the fees cleared the regents with one dissenting vote, coming from Regent Todd Buchanan of Billings, who argued that keeping costs for students down should be the top priority in a recession.

At the University of Montana, a student endorsed fee of $4 per semester will go into place along with a $285 fee for those going into a special internship program.

A much longer list of fees was approved at Montana State University. Students there will see increases ranging up to 6 percent on fees they are charged. And there will be new fees charged to students in specific programs, such as an increase of more than $100 to a fee charged architecture students.

The colleges say the fees are needed to pay for particular programs and to ensure that quality remains high.

Buchanan said he voted against the new fees for the same reason he opposed the increases to tuition and base fees last month. He argued that affordability must remain the top priority in the middle of a recession.

"My vote recognizes what I think most of the state recognizes, that there are tremendous economic challenges facing the state," Buchanan said. "I'm disappointed the board is not seeing that."

Buchanan said he understands that the colleges have not been getting adequate funding to support the current system. He said a longer-term analysis is needed to find out how to fund the system in an affordable way that maintains quality. Until then, though, he will oppose cost increases on students.

"The bottom line is that we just raised the cost of college, the cost to students," he said in an interview. "My vote has been, and will continue, to recognize the number one issue -- and that is the economy."

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has asked the regents to hold the student tuition costs steady. But the panel has constitutional authority over the college system budget.

Regents supporting the proposed fee increases pitched by the college system said they think the schools did a good job of meeting a mandate to slim the request down to the bare minimum.

"The fees, generally speaking, fall in line with the mandates we gave them," said Regents Chairman Stephen Barrett of Bozeman.

Click here to read the meeting agenda.