Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 24, 2006 RCC might raise tuition 8.5% The cost increase, proposed to help plug a budget gap, upsets students and college officials alike By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Rogue Community College might boost tuition by 8.5 percent to help close an anticipated $2.7 million gap in its operating budget next year. Tuition would increase $5 per credit to $64 beginning this summer under the plan the college’s board heard Tuesday. Tuition for out-of-state students would increase $6 per credit to $77. The increase would add $60 to $75 a quarter to most full-time students’ bills. The proposed increase would cover 22 percent of the projected shortfall, officials said. A tuition and fees committee that proposed the tuition increase also suggested a $50 fee to take a computer proficiency exam and a $50 fee for a nursing program application. When paired with constantly rising textbook costs and interest rate increases on student loans, the possible tuition hike is "a major concern," said nursing student Tracy Garrigus. "It could stop some people from going back to school or continuing their education," she said. Advertisement Brian Fletcher, who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the University of Oregon before coming to RCC to study a more practical field — respiratory therapy — is philosophical and practical about the proposed increase. "Maybe it’s not the students’ responsibility to make up deficits, but maybe the increase is needed to provide the services we use," he said. "This is still much less expensive than university." The increase would be the first since RCC raised tuition more than 20 percent from $49 per credit to $59 per credit in 2003. The board considered a $4 per credit tuition increase last year, but opted to keep fees the same in an effort to remain affordable and accessible, officials said. Lynda Warren, RCC’s executive dean of college services and chief financial officer, said this year’s proposed increase is based on a reduction in state funding for community colleges and an enrollment decline that will shrink RCC’s share of the money. Last summer, the Oregon Legislature approved $428 million for community colleges, less than the $440 million college presidents said was needed to avoid tuition hikes and program cuts, officials explained in a press release. The state’s formula for allocating money to colleges is based on the three-year rolling average enrollment of full-time-equivalent students. RCC has seen an enrollment drop in that time, even though numbers have rebounded with the opening of the Table Rock Campus, so its share of state appropriations has fallen, officials said. "The real problem is that the state funding formula is constructed to penalize a college for the problems of the past and doesn’t give a college the resources and programs needed to anticipate the future and serve a growing community," RCC President Peter Angstadt said in a press release. He called the formula "inherently unfair." The tuition and fees committee will continue to look for new revenue sources and a budget advisory committee is looking for ways to cut expenditures, officials said. Student will have a role on both committees. "We are looking at every possible option to solve the budget shortfall," Angstadt said. "It is doable, but no one person has all the answers." Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail RCC might raise tuition 8.5% ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s