Peninsula Daily News and news sources
PORT ANGELES — The cost of education will rise next school year by 7 percent for Washington community college students, including those at Peninsula College.
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges voted in Walla Walla to increase tuition on Thursday.
The increase will add about $200 to the tuition bill for a full-time student starting in the 2010-2011 school year.
The vote was not unexpected, said Peninsula College President Tom Keegan.
“This was planned for since the 2009 legislative session,” Keegan said.
“However, I remain concerned about the effects on students’ ability to access higher education.”
The board also voted to increase tuition for classes leading to applied bachelor’s degrees at four-year schools by 14 percent.
Tuition for nonresidents will go up by the same dollar amount, but not as high a percentage because the board wants to keep out-of-state tuition competitive with nearby Western states.
Both increases are the maximum authorized by the Legislature earlier this year and mirror the tuition increases approved for this academic year.
The tuition increases will make up for some, but not all, of the legislative cuts to the state community and technical college budget.
Seven percent last year
Tuition for the 2009-2010 school year had increased by 7 percent from the 2008-2009 school year at the state’s 33 community colleges.
Keegan said that although he is concerned about the increases, he doesn’t believe it will affect the enrollment.
“I don’t think we’ll see large scale or immediate negative effects in our enrollment because of the economy and the retraining efforts that are taking place,” Keegan said.
“However I am worried about the impacts on students on an individual basis and what that means for their ability to continue their efforts to improve their lives.”
The tuition increases are part of a balancing act for the budgets in community colleges.
Peninsula College cut about 4 percent from the 2010-2011 budget, but no positions will be eliminated and no student services will be cut, Keegan said.
Part of the reason no layoffs are expected is because of a $1.5 million cut — or about 10 percent of the operating funds — from the budget in 2009-2010 school year.
About seven people were laid off then.
“When we did that, we positioned ourselves for five years of budget reductions,” Keegan said.
“We expect that we will be able to weather the storm without any further reductions.”
