(KATV, Source: Pulaski Tech) North Little Rock - Tuition at
Pulaski Technical College will increase by 5.5 percent beginning with the fall
2013 semester.
The Pulaski Technical College Board of Trustees approved the
increase during a regular meeting Jan. 28 and also approved changes to some
fees. The Board reviews tuition adjustments in January each year in order to
give current and new students plenty of time to prepare for the fall semester
and to publicize the information.
Tuition costs will increase $5 per credit hour, from $90 to
$95. Although the majority of fees will remain the same for the 2013-14
academic school year, the board approved the following four fee changes:
- A new Technology Fee of $7 per credit hour. The
fee will help maintain and expand student computer labs and facilities,
academic technologies, web-based services and campus wide technology projects.
- A new Library Fee of $10 per semester to cover
the cost of maintaining library hardware and software, student printing
consumables (toner and paper), subscription costs for journals, databases, and
other enrichment resources.
- The Special Course Fee will increase from $15 to
$30 per course.
- The fee to take the COMPASS test will increase
from $10 to $20, and the cost to retake the test will increase from $5 to $10.
However, as an incentive to get students to prepare before taking the
assessment, the college will waive the test fee for first-time students who
complete a COMPASS preparation program either online or at one of the college's
sites.
For fall, a full-time student taking 15 hours will pay about
$1,781 for tuition and fees, depending on the course of study.
"It's with a heavy heart that we come to the table to
consider tuition increases each January," said Ronald Dedman, chairman of the
college's Board of Trustees. "We know that our students struggle, and we take
that into consideration while also weighing the infrastructure needs of the
college. We have to remain viable."
The tuition increase is expected to generate $1.2 million in
additional revenue for the college.
Pulaski Tech, with an enrollment of about 12,000, is the
state's largest two-year college and the fourth largest among all colleges in
the state. It is also the nation's 16th fastest-growing college
among all colleges with more than 10,000 students, according to a recent report
by Community College Week.
"With that growth, we have to look at viable sources of
funding," said Dr. Margaret Ellibee, college president. "Budgets are tight, and
we have finite resources.
Unlike most of the state's two-year colleges, Pulaski Tech
does not receive any tax revenue from the communities it serves. The only
funding sources are from the state and tuition revenues.
