Owens votes to increase tuition

College won’t know percentage until state OKs budget

6/12/2013

Owens Community College students will pay more for classes this fall, but how much depends on what the state decides.

The college's board of trustees voted Tuesday to approve an “increase in tuition to the maximum allowable amount” provided by the state biennial budget. Since the budget is not yet signed, the exact rate increase isn't determined.

A resolution passed by the board assumes that the state budget will cap tuition increases at 2 percent of the institution's current rate, 2 percent from the statewide average cost, or $100 a year for full-time students. The board last year voted to increase tuition by 5 percent, to $146.03 per credit hour from $138.89. That bumped the cost for full-time students up an additional $200 a year, or $4,088.

An Owens’ spokesman said the rate increase in the proposed range would raise about $820,000 in additional revenue. That would likely go toward closing a projected $7.5 million budget shortfall. Trustees approved a resolution in April that said position cuts were necessary, and more than two dozen Owens administrative staff members were told they would be be laid off.

The budget shortfalls, school officials said, stem largely from lower than projected enrollment. Actual full-time equivalent enrollment this year was about 8,700, less than the projected 11,500.

Bowling Green State University tuition rates could be set June 21 when its board of trustees meet, a university spokesman said. If the board approves tuition or fee increases, those amounts also would depend on state legislation.

The University of Toledo announced in November that it would freeze undergraduate tuition and fees next school year. Administrators have proposed to increase tuition and fees for its graduate and professional programs.