FRANKFORT, KY - The panel that regulates tuition rates for Kentucky's state colleges and universities has finalized tuition hikes for the 2012-2013 school year that go as high as 6 percent.

The Council on Postsecondary Education approved the tuition and mandatory fee proposals Thursday at a meeting in Frankfort.

The tuition hikes range from 3.7 percent for the Kentucky Community and Technical College system to 6 percent at both the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

The council blamed the increases on state funding cuts to higher education over several years. It says the hikes are estimated to bring in additional revenue of $45.1 million to help offset $62.6 million in cuts in next year's state budget.