HALIFAX -- Tuitions at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design will be going up by about 27 per cent over the next three years, but only for some full-time students.

The university's board of governors voted Tuesday to go ahead with the increases beginning next fall.

Students who take five classes or more a semester will see tuition increases of between 7.7 per cent and 9.1 per cent each year until 2018-19.

The increases will not affect full-time students taking three or four classes a semester, or part-time students taking one or two classes per semester.

The change, which would affect about 38 per cent of students at the school if it were immediately implemented, also affects graduate students beginning in September.

Graduate students, who currently pay the same as undergraduate students, will see their tuition increase by 30 per cent to $8,270 a year for incoming Master of Design and Master of Fine Arts.