Tuition, room, and board for Harvard College students will increase by 3.5 percent to $47,215 for the 2008-2009 school year, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith announced yesterday.

This increase is the smallest the College has seen in seven years.

The College’s financial aid budget is also set to expand by 21.4 percent to $125 million in the wake of last year’s sweeping reforms aimed at increasing affordability for middle-class and upper-middle class families.

These reforms include eliminating student loans and expanding the financial aid program to include families making up to $180,000 per year.

“Over the last few years, Harvard College has removed many of the financial barriers that might have prohibited many students from even considering applying,” Smith said in a statement.

“We want to encourage talented students from all economic backgrounds to pursue a Harvard education without incurring huge financial burdens,” he said.

While the tuition increase is among the smallest in the better part of a decade, it is not the smallest in the Ivy League this year.

Yale announced that tuition, room and board will rise by just 2.2 percent for next year. This comes after the New Haven school announced a major expansion to their financial aid program to provide assistance to families making up to $200,000 annually.

Student fees at Yale have increased by an average of five percent over the past three years, according to the Yale Daily News.

Harvard’s tuition hike is lower than Princeton’s, however. Princeton will raise its price by 3.9 percent to $45,695. Last year, the New Jersey university froze its tuition costs but its overall student fees rose by 4.2 percent.

Total costs at private, four-year universities for this academic year rose on average 5.9 percent over last year, according to the College Board, while the inflation rate from February 2007 to February 2008 was 4.0 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.