By Nick Jacques, News Correspondent and Melissa Werthmann, News Staff

During last night’s Student Government Association (SGA) meeting, President Joseph Aoun said he would rather continue to increase tuition, along with financial aid funds, than freeze tuition at the current price.

“I am not in favor of tuition freezes, I am in favor of financial aid increases,” Aoun said in response to a question from Senator Joshua Harris, a business administration major. “Over the last five years tuition on average has risen around 3.8 to 3.9 percent, but [the increase] in financial aid has doubled.”

At the meeting, Aoun also addressed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) cuts, satellite campuses, financial aid, TRACE surveys, the Institutional Master Plan and other student questions.

Northeastern is not the only college battling increasing tuition costs. According to a Feb. 13 Boston Globe article, total student loan debt is greater than credit card debt for the first time and 2010 graduates had an average student loan debt five percent larger than graduates the year before, according to the Project on Student Debt, a think tank with the goal of identifying and raising awareness for opportunities to reduce college costs. The Globe reported that in response to rising national tuition costs, President Barack Obama might deny federal aid to schools that refuse to keep tuition at a reasonable price.

But Aoun said he is worried a tuition freeze would affect the university’s ability to provide financial aid because the less money the school takes in, the less it can give out. Aoun said he discussed his opposition to a tuition cap during a Feb. 6 meeting with US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry.

Aoun also pointed to the university’s promise that undergrads are guaranteed four years of financial aid, but recognized that students’ financial concerns change throughout their time at the university.

“We have students who are getting support. We have students who throughout their studies are facing financial difficulties,” Aoun said. He is the current vice chair and incoming chair of the American Council on Education, an organization which aims to provide advocacy for higher education institutions across the nation and encourage collaboration among school leaders.

Aoun said financial aid allows Northeastern to create a more diverse student group and that capping tuition might limit diversity.

“In our community, we are diverse,” Aoun said. “We are coming from different ethnic backgrounds, from different financial backgrounds, and we want that, we want to cultivate that.”