Students who attend community college full time will be paying $132 more per year in the fall.
Dan Bates / The Herald
Tuition and fees are going up 5 percent at the state’s community and technical colleges. The annual $2,445 bill will be a 49 percent increase over the cost just five years ago.
The state Board for Community and Technical Colleges approved the tuition increase after the Legislature authorized it.
“Of course we don’t like it,” said Craig Johnson, student body president at Edmonds Community College.
Everett Community College President Charlie Earl said he sympathizes with students.
“I would say that for some typical community college students with a family and a job or two and paying tuition and studying, it’s very difficult for them to take another $100 to $200 obligation. It’s real,” he said.
Still, Earl said the increase strikes “the right balance.”
Edmonds Community College President Jack Oharah agreed.
“The Legislature had a tough job this year,” Oharah said. “They had to balance the need to maintain operations at the colleges with tuition.”
Oharah said the tuition increase is one of many financial challenges students face, with textbook prices and gasoline also on the rise.
The cost of a community college education is gradually being taken more and more out of students’ wallets. In 1981, student tuition supported 23 percent of the cost of their education. Today, students pay about 33 percent of the cost.
The state board has commissioned a study, to be done in the next year, to get a better handle on the impact that rising costs have on enrollment, said Suzanne Ames, communications director for the board.
“It’s something we’re very sensitive to. Almost half of community and technical college students are low-income, so anytime you raise tuition you run the risk of having a student not being able to afford to go to college,” Ames said.
One bright spot, she said, is that part-time students are now eligible for financial aid, thanks to a change in state law.
Besides tuition, students pay a hefty amount in mandatory fees. There is an operating fee for the general expenses of a college, a services and activities fee that pays for student activities, and a building fee sent to the state for a construction fund. Some colleges also charge a technology fee.
Andrea Orchowski, 21, of Mill Creek is a business student at Cascadia Community College in Bothell. As student body treasurer next year, she will help determine how to distribute the activities fee money among student groups.
“Your money is not going to waste. You know where it’s going,” Orchowski said, noting that pizza parties, movie nights and clubs are visible on the campus.
Still, the part-time student said the tuition and fee increases are tough on her and many classmates.
“I know people who have to work extra hard to just make it for each quarter,” said Orchowski, who works full-time at a department store. “I don’t see my hourly (pay) going up any.”
Everett Community College student Dawn Bruce said she wasn’t surprised by the state’s decision to increase tuition.
“It usually goes up every fall,” said Bruce, 19, of Everett.
“I wish it wouldn’t, because college is expensive enough. This is a community college, and it’s already difficult for some people to make ends meet. But if it’s necessary, I understand.”
Student Jovan Ludovice, 22, of Everett said the tuition increase will make it tougher for some students to afford classes.
“It’s really a burden,” said Ludovice, who pays his tuition through scholarships, grants and part-time work on campus. “I know a lot of students who have had to take a quarter off because they couldn’t afford a few more hundred dollars for tuition.”
Ludovice will graduate from Everett Community College in June and wants to transfer to the University of Washington or Washington State University. He plans to take out a loan to cover the additional cost.
“I wish I didn’t need a loan, but education is more valuable to me,” Ludovice said. “I think higher education should be free.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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