Improvements in security, building renovations, and higher wages will all contribute to a probable hike in tuition, room and board costs for the '78-'79 academic year, Harvard officials said yesterday.

Final Vote

Thomas O'Brien, financial vice president, said yesterday the Harvard Corporation will cast a final vote on the exact amount of the possible tuition increase at their meeting in early February, based on cost proposals to to submitted by the faculty deans by January 18.

Although Robert E. Kaufman '62, associate dean of the faculty, yesterday refused to estimate the size of the expected tuition hike, he told a meeting of the Committee on Harvard Undergraduate Life (CHUL) just before the winter recess that he estimates the increase in total costs will be 7 to 8 per cent.

Dean Rosovsky said at the CHUL meeting that even if the cost of room and board were held down, the tuition would still increase.

In the past, he said the Corporation has helped hold down room charges and tuition by withdrawing money from an instructional fund.

Rosovsky said, however, that he is "determined to balance the budget," which he can do only if the instructional fund is not depleted in this manner.