Yale University's tuition and fees rose at the lowest rate in more than a decade because of the upbeat national economy, Yale financial administrators announced this week.

Total costs for attending Yale in 1987-88 will be $17,020, up 6.1 percent from last year's fees. Yale students paid $16,040 to attend the New Heaven school this year, $105 less than their Cambridge counterparts. Harvard's tuition for next year will be announced next week, University administrators said.

Although Yale's cost increase is the lowest since 1973-74, it still outpaces inflation because of budgetary costs that run higher than inflation. Jan Ackerman, associate vice president for finance, attributed the cost increase to renovations being done on Yale's science labs and to general maintenance costs.

Lloyd Suttle, dean of administrative and student affairs, said that tuition rose higher than the inflation rate because inflation figures for the general economy measure costs different from the ones universities face: "Inflation in the economy is not a valid indication of the underlying economic state affecting American universities."

Yale's raising professors' salaries by more than the inflation rate helped drive up tuition costs, Suttle said.

Although Yale students will need more financial aid to cover the tuition hike, part of the higher tuition fee itself will be spent on financial aid to cover for the decrease in federal aid grants.

"Student aid is increasing by 12 percent, in part because of federal cutbacks in aid which we're picking up," Ackerman said.

As the government slashes student aid, Yale will remain committed to need-blind admissions and will fully meet the financial need of all its students, Suttle said.

Tuition and fees at Yale become part of the university's general appropriations budget, which pays for everything from faculty to facilities.

Tuition and fees for 1987-88 at Princeton are $16,918 and at Brown, $16,947. Columbia and Pennsylvania have not yet released figures for next year. Administrators at Dartmouth and Cornell could not be reached for comment.