A budget official with the University of Nebraska says the four-campus system will have to increase tuition by about 4 percent each of the next two years or make program cuts if its state funding comes in shorter than expected.

NU budget director Chris Kabourek told the NU Board of Regents on Friday that the system needs a 5.1 percent increase in state funding in order to meet its projected operating expenses for the next two years.

But the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee has proposed a 2.5 percent increase. Gov. Dave Heineman has proposed a 4.2 percent increase — or $62 million — in exchange for a two-year tuition freeze.