BENTONVILLE -- The Northwest Arkansas Community College Board agreed Monday to increase some student fees to help balance the budget for next school year.
Increases in six fees will cost the typical full-time student an extra $120 per year, according to Debi Buckley, chief financial officer. The increases take effect July 1 with the beginning of the new fiscal year.
Fee changes
Here are the student fee changes adopted by the Northwest Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees on Monday. New rates become effective July 1.
Fee DescriptionBasisCurrent RateNew RateProjected New Revenue
Learning supportper credit hour8.50$10$179,832
Technologyper credit hour$10.75$12.25$168,241
Applicationper application$10$20$51,415
Transcriptper transcriptnone$5$45,000
Payment planper payment plan$25$30$27,280
Library resourcesper credit hour$1.50$2$74,540
Securityper credit hour$1.50$2$74,541
Source: Northwest Arkansas Community College
"We hate to do it, but this is something we have to do to move forward with the institution," said Ric Clifford, board chairman.
The college this summer also will introduce a $5 transcript fee to cover transcript issuance costs, though each graduate will receive one copy for free.
The new fee schedule is expected to generate about $621,000 in additional revenue for the college next school year.
Tuition will remain the same for in-district and out-of-district students; however, the college board also agreed Monday to slash the out-of-state tuition rate from $175 to $125 per credit hour in an effort to attract more of those students.
It's estimated tuition change will cost the college nearly $300,000 in revenue. An additional 98 full-time-equivalent students will be needed to make up for that loss.
The college hasn't raised tuition in three years. The last time the college increased any fees was two years ago.
Evelyn Jorgenson, college president, said fees were targeted for increases instead of tuition because the college could cite a specific need associated with each fee.
The 50-cent increase in the library resources fee, for example, is attributed to a significant rise in the cost of a library database that's popular with students, according to Ricky Tompkins, vice president for learning.
The board also approved a $1.50 increase in the technology fee, from $10.75 to $12.25. Administrators originally had proposed an increase of only 50 cents, but board members urged something higher to help keep up with the rapidly rising cost of technology.
The board approved the fee increases as part of the budget development process for next fiscal year. Officials are crafting the budget on the assumption enrollment will fall 3 percent and there will be no additional state money.
In fact, there's some concern about whether state colleges and universities will receive as much state money as they did last year. One percent of state general revenue for those institutions has been set aside into a category of lower priority. That amounts to $106,000 for Northwest Arkansas Community College.
"We have assurances that money will flow," Buckley said after Monday's meeting. "We're anticipating the best."
The board is expected to vote on the budget next month. A draft budget shows the college spending $40.7 million, about $431,000 less than this year's budget.
Daniel Shewmaker, board vice chairman, asked Buckley whether she could envision the college ever reducing or even eliminating some fees. Buckley said it would be possible if enrollment took a positive turn or state money was substantially increased.
Shewmaker said fee increases have become the norm at colleges across the country. He compared the practice to the way many airlines operate.
"It doesn't really lend toward our customer service," Shewmaker said. "I'm not really in favor of it, but I understand why we need to do it."
In other business, the board agreed for the third straight year to opt out of a state law that allows staff members to carry concealed handguns on campus.
Act 226, approved by the Legislature in 2013, allows full-time employees who are licensed to carry concealed weapons to carry a gun on the campuses of Arkansas' universities and colleges unless the boards that govern those institutions agree to opt out of the legislation. The law requires each institution to declare each year its intent to opt out.
The board's vote Monday was 4-1 in favor of the administration's recommendation to opt out.
Todd Schwartz was the lone trustee who voted against the recommendation, as he was in 2013 and 2014. Shewmaker, Mike Shupe, Mauricio Herrera and Geovanny Sarmiento voted for it. Ttrustees Keven Anderson, Joe Spivey and Scott Grigsby were absent. Clifford, as board chairman, doesn't normally vote on any matter.
NW News on 04/14/2015