ONTARIO — Treasure Valley Community College students could see a tuition hike next year as the school’s governing board recently reviewed a proposal to increase tuition by $3 per credit.
With student tuition at $111 per credit, the proposed rate hike would bring the college’s tuition to $114 per credit. The school’s board is also considering boosting its per-credit universal fee to $17, up from $16.
Factored in with other fees, including an activity and capital project fee, the total estimated per-credit tuition costs are just under $138, according to Shirley Haidle, TVCC’s vice president of administrative services. Additionally, those taking an online course would pay $15 per credit and $7 for a class based in Idaho.
The board took no action and is expected to decide on a hike as part of its budget process later this year. Haidle said the rate increases would help balance the college’s 2023-24 budget and raise the college’s revenue by over $100,000 per year. According to Haidle, the $114 per-credit tuition rate would be lower than Oregon’s 2022-23 community college average.
Haidle told the board at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, that most colleges in Oregon have approved tuition increases or are considering them for the 2023-24 school year. She said just one college intends to leave its tuition unchanged but is still considering raising course and program fees, while seven are proposing $2 increases, and three are mulling $3. In addition, Haidle said four are discussing $5 and $6 per credit tuition hikes.
TVCC has raised its tuition by $4 per credit since the 2019-20 school year.
Haidle said she learned of the other colleges’ intentions at a recent meeting of Oregon business managers.
According to Haidle’s report to the board, tuition and fees make up about one-third of the college’s general fund. According to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, a full-time TVCC student’s average tuition and fees in 2021 were $5,895.
Haidle said that TVCC had some of the lowest tuition and fees in Oregon and Idaho in 2021.
Nonetheless, one board member said that the College of Western Idaho in Nampa had not raised its tuition in two years while TVCC continued to increase its tuition. Haidle pointed out that the Nampa school’s other fees have increased over the years.
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