VSC Votes for Tuition Increase
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- Created on Monday, 15 February 2016 20:21
- Written by Alexa Richard
JOHNSON- The Vermont State College Board of Trustees voted this weekend to increase tuition at many of the state colleges.
For the past ten years, the board raised tuition members of the board say they thought the colleges were financially in a good place. The chancellor, leadership and college presidents said that it was untenable for next year.
Each school will experience different tuition increases for the 2016-2017 school year: Castleton University, 0%; Lyndon State College, 2.4%; Johnson State College, 2.5%; Community College of Vermont, 3%; Vermont Technical College, 4%.
“It was a very difficult decision,” Jerry Diamond, a Board of Trustees member, said, “It was rescinding a decision we had made last February to freeze tuition.”
Each college had it’s own reason to increase tuition, and each college chose to increase tuition based on the school’s needs. For the Vermont State Colleges, receiving money has been a constant battle.
“This is not just a legislative issue,” said Bill Lippert, a Board of Trustees member. “This is a gubernatorial issue as well. The governor recommends the budget, we do approve the budget, so to put all of the focus on the legislature is not looking at the full picture.”
Without these increases and any promises made by the legislature, Diamond says he believes all of the state colleges would face budget deficits.
Diamond continued to explain: “a majority of the board felt that had to be covered. A minority of the board felt that it was important not to increase the tuition increase on students and families and to send the message to the state legislature. But they just had to do something. We’ve gotten no increase in funding in eight years.”
“The decisions were made based upon the recommendations of each president. And that was based on what they wanted to do for their campus” Diamond said.
Castleton University will continue to freeze tuition because the administrators say they believe they could market to and attract more students.
Other schools based the increase on their particular needs. Johnson State College raised tuition only for their in-state students, and not out of state, which was designed to bring more out-of-state students to the college.
VTC saw the most substantial increase because, administrators say, they have specialized programs that are in high-demand, and the increase would not affect their enrollment.
“It’s going to provide greater value for the students with some savings,” Diamond said. “But the campuses will continue to be viable, and if in facts some staff reductions are necessary, it will be done in full compliance with contracts that are in place, and with respect with the job that the staff has done.”
Most members of the board say they are optimistic that the increase could result in a better education for the students, but some, like Board of Trustees member Chris MacFarlane, opposed the increase.