By Adam Studzinski
NORMAL – Heartland Community College’s board of trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to increase the school’s tuition and fees by 2.8 percent.
The increase means students will pay 148 dollars per credit hour.
The increase was called for in part because the school is not certain what type of state funding it will be receiving. Finance Director Doug Minter said Heartland actually had to return some adult education grant money to the state not too long ago.
“Because, not having had it appropriated until the year had come and gone, it was not possible to adhere to the grant guidelines that applied to that money,” said Minter. “Simply not knowing is a very difficult situation.”
President Rob Widmer explained they don’t take tuition increases lightly.
“Affordability has been one of the hallmarks of community colleges relative to other higher education,” said Widmer. “So we can be very concerned about what the cost is for students. It is, indeed, a very unfortunate situation we find ourselves in with state funding.”
Besides uncertainty in state funding, the school’s current full time faculty contract calls for a 2.5 percent salary bump in the next fiscal year, which contributed to the need for an increase.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].
