Cincinnati State to raise tuition 3.5 percent in Early Fall Term
May 26, 2010
Trustees at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College voted Tuesday to raise tuition by 3.5 percent, effective in the Early Fall Term of 2010.
Tuition, currently $83 per credit hour, will rise to $85.90.
About 60 percent of Cincinnati State’s students are part-time and carry an average of nine credit hours per term. A full-time student is regarded as one who carries 12 or more credit hours a term. For a student carrying nine credit hours the tuition increase would amount to $26.10 a term.
Cincinnati State last increased tuition in January 2010, effective in the Spring Term, by 3.5 percent. Combined, these are the first tuition increases for Cincinnati State students in four years.
In a report to the board, the College administration cited several reasons for recommending taking advantage of the full tuition increase allowed under state guidelines. Among them:
- Enrollment at Cincinnati State has increased 27.7 percent over the past fiscal year, a period that saw growth at Ohio’s community colleges statewide grow by 16 percent. The unexpected, exponential enrollment growth has placed a strain on instructional capacity, classroom space and equipment, information technology infrastructure and other support structures.
- At present, about 15 percent of the annual subsidy that the College receives from the state of Ohio comes from federal stimulus funds. It is not known at this time whether the state will make up for the loss of federal stimulus funds after Fiscal Year 2012 and beyond. The prudent course is for colleges and universities to take full advantage of their own revenue raising abilities now, in the event the state is forced to cut its funding in the next budget cycle.
- Cincinnati State’s tuition is quite competitive with similar institutions in the region.
- Cincinnati State’s planned conversion to semesters in 2012 will trigger significant costs, because of the need to reorganize the curriculum, bolster the advising staff, build new software systems and the like.
In conjunction with the vote to raise tuition, trustees established two new designated funds, one for deferred maintenance, another for semester transition.
