ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  -- Tuition increases at State University of New York colleges beginning in January reflect the state's fiscal crisis, but will compound hard fiscal times for many students unable to adjust to this latest financial blow.

Most SUNY students will face a total increase of $620 for the 2009-10 academic year above the current tuition of $4,350.

``For some students, this will be a perfect storm that may drive them out of college,'' said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Undergraduate students who are New York residents will pay $310 more beginning in January and $310 more for the fall semester, for an increase in annual tuition to $4,970. Annual increases after that will be based on a cost index for higher education of about 4 percent.

Current tuition is $4,350 and the typical cost of tuition, room and board at a SUNY school is about $15,000 a year for a state resident.

SUNY students who live outside the state will pay $1,130 more in the spring, rising to $2,260 more in the fall semester. That will bring the fall 2009 tuition to $12,870.

Tuition increases for graduate programs including medical and law schools will rise far more. SUNY expects to collect $140 million in 2009 from the tuition increases.

The first tuition increases since 2003 and the second since 1995 don't require approval by the Legislature. The SUNY Board of Trustees is empowered to collect tuition increases, but can't tap those resources without the Legislature's approval, SUNY spokesman David Henahan said Thursday.

The SUNY board, mostly appointed by governors, has called for tuition increases in the past. But lawmakers under pressure from constituents and worried about affordability have refused to approve the proposals, so SUNY retracted the tuition increases. This time, the SUNY board's increases will be charged.

``I never heard of it before,'' said NYPIRG's Horner. ``They can't spend it, but clearly they must have gotten the green light from the governor and they are operating under the assumption that they will keep the money.''

But for students, even a modest increase couldn't come at a worse time.

Current grants under the state Tuition Assistance Program, which provides substantial help to hundreds of thousands of public and private college students, are based on family income as stated on tax returns. For many New Yorkers, incomes have declined this year amid a national recession and trouble on Wall Street and the many employers statewide affected by it.

Earlier this year, the Legislature approved a bill to allow financial aid officers to revise a student's financial data when ``extenuating circumstances exist including catastrophic illness, total physical or mental disability, death, a call to active military duty, an involuntary change in employment status, divorce or separation.'' Paterson vetoed it Sept. 4.

``But, again, the state is in an unprecedented fiscal situation,'' Horner said Thursday. ``Students have to be mindful of that, but what's missing in this policy is the change in the financial aid system.''

SUNY board Chairman Carl Hayden said the tuition increases reflect the state's fiscal crisis and are needed to make sure there is ``access for current and future students, maintains academic quality, and supports research and economic development.''

Hayden also called for state approval of public-private partnerships, which he said could save substantial funds.

SUNY's current state support for its state-operated campuses is $1.17 billion, up from $1.38 billion a year ago. The board's proposed state funding for the 2009-10 fiscal year is just over $1.32 billion.

WHAT TO EXPECT: 

- Undergraduate students who are New York residents will pay $310 more beginning in January and $310 more for the fall semester, for an increase to $4,970.

Current tuition is $4,350 and the typical cost of tuition, room and board at a SUNY school is about $15,000 a year for a state resident.

- SUNY undergraduate students who live outside the state will pay $1,130 more in the spring, rising to $2,260 more in the fall semester. That will bring the fall 2009 undergraduate tuition for nonresidents to $12,870.

- Most graduate degree tuition would increase by $980 for New York residents to $7,880, while students from outside the state would see a $2,330 increase to $13,250 a year.

- Non-resident students in associate degree programs at Alfred, Canton, Cobleskill, Delhi and Morrisville will be charged $1,540 additional for a total annual tuition of $8,750 under SUNY's ``differential tuition'' plan provided to some of the most sought-after colleges of technology.

- For masters in business administration students, tuition would increase by $1,010 to $8,110 for New York residents and $2,420 for nonresident students, to $13,760 a year.

- Medical school tuition would rise $2,670 to $21,470 for New Yorkers and increase $7,140 to $40,640 for out-of-state students or ``nonresidents.''

- Tuition at SUNY's University at Buffalo Law School would increase $1,870 per year for New York residents to a total of $15,070 and $4,260 for nonresidents to $24,260.

- Pharmacy school students at Buffalo would see a $1,950 increase, to $15,650 for New York residents. The increase for nonresidents will be $5,050 a year, to $28,750.

- Students pursuing physical therapy or doctor of nursing practice degrees at Buffalo and SUNY Stony Brook would see a $1,620 increase for New York residents to $13,040. Nonresidents will pay $3,900 more, or $22,190.

- Dental school tuition at Buffalo and Stony Brook would increase by $2,300 to $18,500. Nonresidents would pay $6,920, or $39,420.

- Optometry school tuition would increase $1,930 for New Yorkers to $15,550 and increase $5,570 for nonresidents to $31,720 a year.