Johnson City, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Board of Regents have approved a tuition hike for state universities, community colleges, and tech centers.
Their thumbs up will deliver 6.1-percent more tuition revenue to East Tennessee State University, and 5.5-percent more tuition revenue to Northeast State Technical Community College.
The board made those increases possible when they eliminated a tuition last December.
On it's face, the increase seems like Alexander Hamilton on parade.
"The fee for the 13th hour is just an additional $10. Then the fee for the 14th hour would be another $10," said B.J. King, the associate vice-president of financial services at ETSU.
(For a full breakdown of 2009-2010's cost per credit hour at ETSU, click the first web link at left)
But those $10 fees can add up to a double-digit percent change in some cases.
For example, in-state students taking 21 credit hours at ETSU paid $2,151 last year -- the same amount as students taking 12 credit hours. That same student will pay $2,382 next year -- a 10.74% increase.
(For a full breakdown of those comparisons, click the second web link at left)
"It is more of an advantage for the part-time student," King said. "And that, pretty much, is the base that we serve in East Tennessee."
For full-time students, the added cost might be a hard pill to swallow.
Suzi Azzazy and Shawn Stewart ... both full-time students -- outspoken ones at that. They hold positions in student government.
"It's expensive enough already to come to college," said Shawn Stewart, the Student Government Association's chief of staff.
King said she was prepared for some resistance. The average increase is about 6.4-percent, a relatively modest figure, and comparable to previous years, she said.
Suzi Azzazy agrees, that figure is modest. She worries the lack of a tuition cap opens the floodgates.
"Right now, it's only six-point-four percent and doesn't seem like that much," Azzazy said. "But it will probably keep going up and that will be a financial burden on many students."
For a video version of this report, click the play icon above.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement