Students may start paying more for health insurance programs if the University board of trustees approves a proposal to increase the fee. The board will determine health insurance fees for the fall 2013 semester at its meeting Thursday.

If rates are approved, undergraduate students would pay $254 in health insurance fees next semester, a 16 percent increase from this year’s rate of $219. Rates for graduate students would increase 6 percent, from $310 to $328.

At its January meeting, the board approved a 1 percent increase in total annual student fees for the 2013-14 academic year. This includes a $1 increase in health service fees, which, combined with health insurance fees, fund student health care programs.

These programs meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, according to the health insurance fee proposal. The University revised student health insurance contracts after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finalized rules in regards to student health plans in March 2012.

At the meeting, the board will also vote on proposals to establish the Center for a Sustainable Environment, the TIAA-CREF Center for Farmland Research and the Grainger Center for Electric Machinery and Electromechanics. All three centers would be established on the Urbana campus.

In addition, Chancellor Phyllis Wise will present a “dashboard indicator” report of the Urbana campus. This presentation will update board members of the campus’s enrollment numbers, graduation rates and research performance, as well as goals for the upcoming semester.

University spokesman Tom Hardy said the rest of the meeting will be fairly routine.

Lauren can be reached at [email protected].