Community college cost going up 5%

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Tuition at state community colleges will rise again in the fall.

The state Board of Community and Technical Colleges voted Wednesday to raise tuition an average of 5 percent.

For the typical full-time student taking 15 credits, tuition and fees will increase to $862 a quarter from $815. That means students will pay $2,586 a year, an increase of $141.

The boost follows a $159 increase this year.

“Obviously, it will impact students a great deal,” said Mary Gunn, 20, Everett Community College’s student body president.

Gunn said many EvCC students attend community college because it is more affordable than going straight to a four-year university. She typically works two to three jobs to avoid having to take out student loans.

Edmonds Community College student Amy Sullivan, 19, considers herself lucky to have a scholarship that helps pay for part of her schooling.

Like Gunn, she chose community college because it’s less expensive. She works full-time at a music store, takes 17 credits at the college and is in the EdCC choir.

“It makes it more difficult,” she said of the tuition hike. “It (scholarship money) won’t cover as much.”

With limits dictated by the Legislature, the state board sets tuition for the community colleges, although some local fees vary.

The cost of a community college education is gradually being shifted more from taxpayers to students. In 1981, student tuition made up 23 percent of the cost of their education. Last year, it made up 38.5 percent.

The trend concerns the presidents at EvCC and EdCC.

“There is absolutely a concern that the cost of getting an education is too high,” said Michael Kerns, EvCC’s interim president.

“What we are forced to balance is the cost of maintaining operations versus the cost to students,” Kerns said. “And we are facing a real difficult choice.”

EdCC President Jack Oharah said he backed the board’s vote Wednesday, but also hopes a state study will give long-term perspective on tuition affordability issues.

“What percentage does the public think the individual ought to be paying for? What is the long-term policy?” Oharah asked. “That’s a question I think we have to answer as a state.”

The state board on Wednesday encouraged colleges to earmark part of the tuition increase toward financial aid for low-income students, a practice that exists at many schools already.

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.