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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2011 > May > 20 > Entry
Community colleges say 3.5 percent tuition cap is unfair
DAYTON — Sinclair Community College President Steven Johnson is participating in a statewide push to raise the proposed cap on tuition increases for Ohio’s 23 community colleges.
At stake are millions of would-be tuition dollars that could help offset a 9 percent drop in state subsidies for Ohio’s most affordable schools.
Johnson, and officials from community colleges across Ohio, are asking lawmakers to allow them to raise tuition by as much as $200 per full time student, instead of continuing the 3.5 percent cap currently in place for all public colleges and universities in the state. School leaders argue that a percentage cap makes it harder for less expensive schools to weather budget cuts.
“This will help us avoid a crisis in the future,” Johnson said.
Under the current proposal, Sinclair, which is the state’s cheapest college with a tuition of $2,304 per year, would get just $81 per full-time student. Miami University, the state’s most costly with a tuition of $12,654, would get $442 per full-timer - five times more than Sinclair.
Community college officials have the backing of a key education leader in the state — Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro. “A monetary cap of $200 for community colleges would continue to keep community colleges in Ohio affordable without placing an undue burden on the institutions themselves,” Petro told the Ohio Senate finance committee, chaired by Chris Widener, R-Springfield, last week.
For Sinclair, a $200 per student increase translates to a 9 percent hike, but the college would still remain among the most affordable in Ohio. If approved the soonest students would see the increase would be the winter session of 2012.
Without the change, Johnson said, both access and quality could suffer. “Can we afford to reduce quality and cut enrollment as a community? I would say we cannot,” Johnson said. The school has seen a 30 percent increase in demand for services while cutting per student costs by 22 percent over the past decade, Johnson said.
Declining collection from a property tax levy that supports Sinclair plays largely into the need for the tuition increase. The college faces losing a total of $11 million in funding over the next two years from decreases in levy collections and state support, Johnson said.
Levies don’t come into play for schools like Clark State Community College where the funding situation isn’t as dire and officials hope to hold tuition increases to 2.4 percent, said president Karen Rafinski. Yet she supports the $200 cap to help schools like Sinclair weather multiple funding hits. “I can live with either one, for my colleagues I wish for the flexibility,” she said.
Community colleges statewide have seen double digit enrollment increases during the recession while state support per student enrolled has been declining for years, said Ron Abrams, president of the Ohio Association for Community Colleges.
Abrams is unsure if lawmakers will approve of the $200 cap because they have said they want to treat all schools equally. “This is a classic example of them treating us the same, but not equally,” he said.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Colleges and Universities
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By jay
May 23, 2011 7:21 AM | Link to this
Why ask for comments if you won’t print them,Seems like if you Don’t write a Puff piece,Margo or Chris won’t allow it.
By jay
May 23, 2011 6:36 AM | Link to this
Forever Collage’s have increased tuition when and how much they wanted , Cut back like everyone else. why should Collage’s be any different that School District’s.Freeze wages and cut the fat.No more free Reine.Post Salaries of ALL staff Top to bottom.I doubt that will happen.
By John Glenn
May 22, 2011 4:15 AM | Link to this
so dont cut education budgets. Seriously, Community Colleges are most vital to getting people back on their feet or starting out from a point of disadvantage. Why not fund education more?
By OldSalt
May 21, 2011 5:30 PM | Link to this
I’m sorry but we are helping put a daughter through school and I lost my job 2 years ago and am now on a fixed income. I’ve had to make many sacrifices since loosing my job just to pay bills, mortgage, etc. I see no COLA in the budget for those of us in the same boat I’m in. The whole school system has to learn to tighten it’s belt like many of us have had to. My daughter took a job in fast food to be able to go to school at night. We don’t eat out anymore. We have to rob Peter to pay Paul!! Sorry, but I can’t feel sorry for them! Tighten your belt and hang on. That’s what they keep telling me!!!
By JS
May 21, 2011 9:44 AM | Link to this
Either way, more cost is getting shifted to the student, who has less and less ability to pay it, putting college out of reach for a larger percentage of our population. This is how the 21st century will not be an American century.
By Tired of Public Sector Whining
May 20, 2011 12:39 PM | Link to this
When your employer, in this case the State of Ohio, tells you your budget can only rise by 3.5 %, you insure your outlays match the projection. There’s no unfairness in a balanced budget.