CANTON -- St. Lawrence University plans to hire an additional 10 tenure-track faculty positions in several disciplines with part of its 3.6 percent increase in annual fees.

SLU’s board of trustees has approved a comprehensive fee of $62,150 for its students in the 2015-16 academic year.

That is an increase of $2,168 over last year, or a 3.6 percent increase for university tuition, room, board and fees, the same rate of increase as last year and one of the lowest increases in a decade, according to a statement from the university.

The plan to hire the extra faculty will help keep St. Lawrence’s student-faculty ratio low, the statement said.

Other major expenses include completion last fall of Kirk Douglas Hall, which is now home to 155 students. As a result, 17 lounges that had been converted to student rooms in other residence halls have been restored as lounges.

Other recent campus investments include renovating and enlarging the Quad, renovating Cole Library to a quiet study space, and restoring Gunnison Memorial Chapel after the Oct. 6, 2013, fire.

As a private institution, St. Lawrence relies on student fees and private donations in order to fund all academic programming and to maintain campus facilities, the statement said.

The board also approved a new statistics major, which will be submitted to the New York State Education Department for approval later this year.

“St. Lawrence provides value for this investment in the form of an exceptional liberal arts education that emphasizes close faculty-student interaction, a nurturing and supportive academic and residential environment, local and global intercultural opportunities, interdisciplinary learning, and the education of the whole person – an approach that encourages intellectual and personal growth that helps prepare graduates for new challenges in a rapidly changing and increasingly global community,” said university president William L. Fox.

In a recent Career Services survey, 2013 graduates reported a 96 percent placement rate in either a job or graduate school less than one year after graduation. A large portion of the Class of 2013 also gained some practical experience while attending St. Lawrence. Of them, 92 percent had some sort of research experience, 61 percent studied off campus, 63 percent took part in an internship and 68 percent participated in some sort of community service activity.

Most St. Lawrence students receive some form of financial aid, the university pointed out. This past fall, about 97 percent of undergraduates received some form of financial support, with nearly 95 percent receiving direct financial assistance known as St. Lawrence gift aid. Meanwhile, the median loan debt for St. Lawrence students remains below the national average of all graduates from both private and public institutions.