PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s public university system plans to avoid a tuition increase related to its response to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday.

The University of Maine System began considering its fiscal 2021 budget on Wednesday. The proposal includes a long-planned 2.5% tuition increase, but it does not include any additional tuition or fee increases caused by the pandemic, said system spokesman Dan Demeritt.

The cost of responding to the pandemic at Maine’s public universities will likely be more than $20 million in the coming budget year, Demeritt said. He said the pandemic will “have a big impact on operations and revenues this academic year,” but the system will still be ready for students in the fall.