When the school year rolls around, students at Dutchess Community College will have to dig a little deeper into their wallets to pay their tuition.
Tuition will rise for the fourth consecutive year under the college’s 2005-06 budget, approved this week by the Dutchess County Legislature.
For full-time students, tuition will increase by $100 to $2,600 per year – a 4 percent increase. For part-time students, tuition will increase 7 percent to $105 per credit, a $7 hike. Technology fees, which go toward new computer equipment, will also increase by $100 per year, or $2 per credit for part-time students.
College President David Conklin said the increase is mainly driven by the college’s need to hire five new faculty members to keep up with increasing enrollment, as well as the ever-increasing cost of employee benefits. “We still have the lowest tuition of any college or university in the state,” he said.
DCC, like community colleges across the state, draws its funding from three major sources: tuition, state aid, and a local sponsor (in this case, Dutchess County). Ideally, each funding stream would account for roughly one-third of the college’s budget, but in recent years tuition and state aid have shouldered a higher burden, with state aid holding steady at 34.7 percent and tuition increasing to cover 39 percent of revenue.
While the county’s contribution would actually increase by $200,000 under next year’s $8.58 million budget, it will decrease proportionally from 27.2 percent of the college’s revenue last year to 26.1 percent in the coming year.
Conklin said that while the imbalance may not be in line with the original concept of the community college’s funding, the new budget strikes a balance between tax and tuition increases. “There are realities in life, and we’re not here to disadvantage the county,” he said. The county’s contribution did not increase at all in the college budget adopted last year.
Conklin noted that while Dutchess County contributes the lowest percentage compared to other area community colleges, the college still manages to offer the lowest tuition in the state and the lowest cost per student in the region. “The reality for our students is that they want a high quality education,” he said. “They understand there’s a cost associated with that.”
“We work hard to keep our tuition low,” Conklin added.
Republican legislators, who hold a 17-8 majority, said a tuition increase, while not ideal, was preferable to a drastic tax increase.
“We do not feel comfortable with a tuition increase, but we do not feel comfortable with a tax increase either,” said Marc Molinaro (R-Red Hook). “We try to balance that.”
“If we absorb some (more) of the cost, we put that back on the taxpayers,” said Patrick Nesbitt (R-Town of Poughkeepsie). “I don’t know where in the world that would come from.”
But several Democrats asked Conklin how the college would be affected by holding the line on tuition and fees.
Minority Leader Roger Higgins (D-Poughkeepsie/Wappinger) said he was “disappointed” by the tuition increase proposed by the college’s board of trustees, which unanimously approved the budget last month. With so many taxes and other expenses increasing for county residents, he said, a tuition increase would be another difficult burden for the county’s lower-income and working families to take on.
Higgins said he and other Democrats were not proposing a tax increase, but asking for more information about the impact of a smaller budget for the college. “We don’t know what the alternative would be,” he said. “This puts us in an awful position.”
Minority Whip Sandra Goldberg (D-Wappinger) said she was “uncomfortable” voting in favor of last year’s college budget, with its own tuition increase. “I just can’t do it again,” she said.
“We have to draw the line in the sand,” Higgins said.
He offered a motion to table the budget vote for a month, to allow college officials to come back to the Legislature with a smaller budget that would not increase tuition. That motion was defeated along party lines.
Conklin said the increase alone would account for about $1.3 million of the college’s $47.5 million budget for next year. If that money were cut from the budget, he said, it would likely result in an “unfair” burden on departments to further cut expenses.
“We don’t have that much flexibility,” Conklin said. “We work hard to make sure our operations are efficient … At some point we have to be recognized for being efficient and effective.”
Conklin also noted that financial aid is available for the college’s neediest students, to make sure education is not a financial hardship for them.
Molinaro said he thought it was unlikely for anyone to miss out on a DCC education because tuition was too high. “$2,600 for an education is by far the best you will get for your money,” he said.
Jim Hammond (R-Town of Poughkeepsie), who has sent all four of his sons to DCC, noted in a GOP caucus Monday that more than half the county’s high school graduates would attend DCC this year, and that the college offers full scholarships for local seniors graduating in the top ten percent of their high school classes. “It’s a great bargain,” he said.
The budget was approved 18-6 by the full Legislature Monday. Opposed were six Democrats: Higgins, Goldberg, Barbara Jeter-Jackson (City of Poughkeepsie), Rick Keller-Coffey (Town of Poughkeepsie), Fred Knapp (City of Poughkeepsie) and Joel Tyner (Rhinebeck/Clinton).