Tuition and room and board will increase by $2,032 for the 2012-13 academic year at Boston University, according to an email sent to students Friday morning.

BU President Robert Brown announced in the email that the tuition rate would increase by 3.79 percent, which he described as one of the lowest in 40 years. The Board of Trustees decided on a tuition rate of $42,400 and room and board rate of $13,190.

Tuition for the 2011-2012 year was $40,848, while room and board was set at 12,710, according to statistics on the Admissions website.

In his email, Brown stated the average financial aid award will increase by 5 percent next year.

Fifty-seven percent of undergraduate students receive some aid from school, according to the email.

Although this increase will not address every case, BU spokesman Colin Riley said some current students will see a slight increase in their financial aid.

“Our practice generally is that the increase in financial assistance to those students receiving it will cover a portion of [the tuition increase],” he said. “The other contribution for those increases will come from the students themselves and the parents.”

About $187.5 million were given out in undergraduate need-based aid for the 2010-11 academic year, according to the common set data. The statistics for 2011-12 were not available.

Riley said the increase is on par with the past three years – about 3.8 percent – and less than average costs at similar universities.

“These increases as a percent have been below the national average for private higher education institutions [of the same size],” he said.

The increase in tuition accounts for the increase in the costs of running BU, Riley said. The operating budget measures at about $2 billion. Tuition accounts for just less than half of BU’s operating budget.

The largest expenses come from research and instruction funding, he said.

The email noted a number of academic, technological and construction developments the budget is expected to cover.

“In the budget, funding is included for modest growth of academic programs, improvement in our student services and for investments in critical information technology systems,” Brown stated.

The school budget allowed investing in various new facilities such as the new Center for Student Services and the New Balance Athletic Field set to be built in West Campus by 2013.

Riley said the increase in room and board rates were based on the annual increase in food costs and food delivery.