from the bcct:
BCCC hikes tuition
By NAILA FRANCIS, Staff Writer Calkins Media, Inc. | 0 comments
BUCKS COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE - Full-time county students attending Bucks County Community College next year will pay $10 more per credit.
The college's board of trustees in a special meeting Thursday unanimously approved the hike, which includes a $6 jump in tuition per credit, from $105 to $111, and an increase of $4 per credit for the student technology fee, up from $26 to $30.
That means a typical student taking 12 credits a semester will pay $3,384 during the 2011-12 academic year, an increase of $240.
For out-of-county students, the tuition will increase $12 per credit, from $210 to $222.
Chairman J. Peter Dominick called the increase a "reasonable route to take" in the face of a $2 million loss to BCCC with Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed budget cuts in education. Yet he also acknowledged that "$10 is an important and a big number for a number of our constituents."
"It's sad to do that to some people," said trustee Garney Morris, "but that was what we had to do."
Following the meeting, Dominick said the decision to raise tuition and fees by 7.6 percent was one of the most difficult he's had to make in his time on the board and was reached after a "knock-down, drag-out discussion." The board had postponed making such a decision at its regular meeting earlier in March.
For years, the trustees have maintained a policy of incremental increases, with tuition hiked by $7 the last two years in a row. In 2008, costs jumped $2 per credit and $3 per credit in technology fees, while the board approved a $1 hike in 2007, the smallest amount in eight years.
Considering such modest boosts, Dominick noted that even with this year's slightly higher increase, students at Bucks still fare better than those at neighboring colleges and universities.
"We continue to feel that this is still a very good education bargain and investment for our residents," he said.
College President James J. Linksz noted that under normal circumstances, the tuition and fees would have gone up $7. The slightly higher jump was necessitated by Corbett's proposed 10 percent reduction in funding to the state's community colleges, combined with expected increases in health care costs, salaries that have already been negotiated and increases in fixed expenses such as insurance, utilities and contracted services. The state's budget cuts also don't take into account the millions in dried-up federal stimulus funding to community colleges over the last two years.
In reality, those circumstances would have required a tuition increase of almost $26 per credit, but considering per credit costs would have risen by about $7 anyway, the new rates in effect represent only a $3 increase, Linksz said.
The tuition hike is in line with national trends. According to The College Board, tuition and fees at public two-year colleges rose an average of 6 percent during the 2010-11 academic year. BCCC's increase was 5.6 percent, while the new rates are in line with higher projections for the upcoming year.
As other colleges across the region are considering capping student enrollment, curtailing programs and services, freezing salaries and other cost-cutting measures in addition to raising tuition, Linksz is looking to make significant cuts from the school's budget to keep tuition increases fairly stable.
With personnel accounting for 80 percent of the college's $85 million operating budget, he plans to trim expenses in that area by eliminating unfilled vacant positions, which will also result in a savings in benefits. Fifty percent of the salary for full-time employees goes toward benefits, he said. He also noted the potential for layoffs but said he would prefer to avoid them.
Reductions also will be made for "non-personnel items," such as trips or trainings that can be deferred.
Even though the $2 million loss in state aid accounts for only 3 percent of the budget - and is not as severe a hit as the cuts of more than 50 percent being faced by the 14 state-owned universities - it is still part of a frustrating trend. As enrollment at the nation's 1,200 community, technical and junior colleges have been soaring, funding by the state and local government sponsors has remained stagnant.
Dennis Matthews, BCCC's CFO, said that student tuition accounts for 48 percent of the school's budget, with 27 percent coming from the state, 15 percent from the county and another 10 percent attributable to miscellaneous income, such as sales from the bookstore and cafeteria.
Yet, in the early 1960s, the Pennsylvania Legislature created a formula to pay for community colleges that required the state, county and students to each contribute one-third toward funding.
According to Linksz, that formula has since shifted. In the 1990s, the commonwealth agreed to instead pay a certain amount per student, and then in 2005 put a cap on that figure.
Still, he insisted, "The state has been the most consistent partner for community colleges. Each of the 14 (colleges) has routinely received close to what was the statutory amount."
The county commissioners' appropriation, which is not based on a student count, has remained fixed for the last 10 years.
According to Linksz, this year, the college received $23.1 million from the state. The county provided $13 million, an amount projected to remain the same in the coming year.
"The county hasn't cut its budget to us at all," he said.
The problem is that state and county sponsors aren't sharing fully in the proportional increases in the cost of education.
"This is a particularly complicated time," said Linksz. "We really don't think we're going to recover as fast as we went downhill. The consensus among the 14 community college leaders is that this is a long-term problem."
Trustees S. W. Calkins, Madeline Kemper and Thomas Skiffington were absent from Thursday's meeting.
Naila Francis can be reached at 215-345-3149 or nfrancis@phillyBurbs.com Follow Naila on Twitter at twitter.com/Naila_Francis
