Summer, beaches, parties, increased tuition rates, beautiful weather; can you tell which doesn’t belong? Camden County College student Alexandra Pajil states, “I should be planning my summer vacation, but I’m concerned about paying for school, especially if tuition will be increased. I guess I’ll have to work longer hours if I want a vacation and an education.” Camden County College has recently approved a slight tuition increase that would take effect in the summer 2010 semester. A possible question is whether or not the increase will benefit the college or negatively affect its enrollment.
The current tuition rate for an in-county student taking 12 credits including fees comes out to around $1,443.00 per semester. According to an interview with Susan Coulby, Media Relations Manager at Camden County College, “The President [of the college] says the Board of Trustees has approved a small tuition increase for 2010-2011.” Increases in tuition are not uncommon considering the current economic state, and CCC will be added to the list of colleges that are asking more of their students. Though the current tuition rate may not seem unreasonable, students who dedicate a significant portion of their paychecks to their education will still feel any increase in the tuition.
The exact amount of the increase is not final, but any type of rise in price for education can immensely impact current and future students. Pajil stated, “I would like to know what the money is going toward and why costs are going up for classes when they seem to be fine just the way they are.” Coulby stated, “This will be occurring due to two factors: Increased cost of operations (typical year-to-year rises) and anticipated losses or lack of increases in public funding. The increased tuition and/or fee revenues will offset shortfalls elsewhere in the operating budget.” College student Jordan Lovett states, “It’s not okay that the college asks students to pay more for their education when they will probably not see improvements on campus or in the classroom.”
Many questions were left unanswered about the tuition increase. Besides ‘losses in public funding’, or ‘increased cost of operations’, what will this extra money truly be spent on? Will students see a tangible difference on campus? Whether or not students are pleased with the idea of a tuition increase, they will be faced with dealing with said increase in the very-near future.