Kirkwood board approves 5.3 percent tuition increase

Kirkwood Community College students will pay an additional $7 per credit hour next year, a 5.3 percent tuition increase necessary in part, officials said, to provide a financial cushion in the face of expected enrollment decline.

The Kirkwood board of trustees on Thursday unanimously approved the 2013-14 tuition rate of $140 per credit hour, an increase from $133 this year. Out-of-state students will pay an additional increase. For several years, non-resident students have paid $25 per credit hour on top of the in-state rate; the board increased that additional amount to $30 per credit hour.

Next year's budget was built with the expectation of a 5 percent decline in credit hour enrollment, Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said. But officials now think that fall enrollment decline may actually be 6 percent to 8 percent, so they went with a slightly higher tuition increase to have a budget cushion.

"We've got to protect ourselves in case we do have that bigger decline," he said.

Kirkwood officials also worked to become more efficient in light of the expected enrollment decline, Starcevich said.

Starting July 1, about $2 million in personnel and benefits costs will be cut from the budget through the elimination of 22 full-time positions via retirements, he said. Another four full-time positions were cut and those people will come back as part-time, contributing to those savings, he said.

State funding levels for Iowa community colleges are "so out of balance" and do not reach the necessary levels, Starcevich said. At Kirkwood, tuition dollars are 62 percent of the budget, while state appropriations are 28 percent and local property taxes are 4 percent.

"The operation is running on the backs of our students, which I think is totally wrong," he said.

Kirkwood will increase the amount of scholarship dollars given to students through the Kirkwood Foundation, Starcevich said. Scholarships from foundation dollars will increase from $2.4 million this year to $2.62 million next year, he said.

Even with the $7 per credit hour increase next year, Kirkwood's cost will remain near the lowest among Iowa community colleges, he said. Starcevich also noted that Kirkwood has 134 educational programs -- by far the most of any Iowa community college -- and many of them are expensive applied sciences programs.

"I know that's not a happy number," he said of the tuition increase, "but I look at the quality in what we're providing."