University of Central Florida trustees are considering whether to raise medical students' tuition and fees by nearly 5 percent for the 2015-16 year.

The board's committee discussion Wednesday on the issue comes the same week as Gov. Rick Scott's announcement that one of his top priorities this year is to prevent universities from increasing tuition at medical and law schools and other graduate programs.

"We have to keep higher education affordable for our students and while we have made considerable steps to curb the rising cost of undergraduate tuition it must be a priority to hold the line on graduate school tuition this year," Scott said in a statement.

Under Scott's proposal, public universities would be banned from raising tuitions for graduate and professional programs beyond the rate that is set as of July 1.

But UCF officials argued they are responsible stewards of taxpayer money for the medical school, a growing program still in its infancy and among the cheapest medical programs in the state even if the new fees were approved. The estimated $800,000 in increased revenue would pay for hiring four or five new faculty members.

"I understand the pressures on keeping tuition lower. It's a noble ambition," President John Hitt told the trustees committee meeting. "I don't want us to get to the point where we can't hire the faculty we need to do a first-rate job of educating students."

This academic year, Florida residents pay $29,680 in tuition and fees while non-residents are charged $56,554 to attend the Lake Nona medical campus. Under the new proposal, residents' total increase would jump to $31,066 while non-residents would pay $59,283. The overall increase would come from a $31.86 hike in the cost per credit hour as well as a rise in other student fees.

The proposal was disheartening, although "understandable," said Arnaldo Perez, a UCF sophomore who leads a student group for aspiring doctors.

"It just makes your career even tougher. You'll have to worry about paying your debt off on top of life," said Perez, 19, of Puerto Rico, who hopes to be a pediatrician and attend the UCF medical school in 2017.

But he said hiring more faculty seemed like a necessary cost for the growing school and, he acknowledged, "Medical school is not free."

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UCF trustees consider tuition hike for medical school