Kirkwood tuition to increase 3.6 percent

Kirkwood Community College students will see a 3.6 percent tuition increase for the 2014-15 school year.

The increase will offset another projected drop in enrollment. 'For a number of years we held tuition artificially low,” said Kristie Fisher, vice president of student services. 'Tuition decisions are one of the most difficult for Kirkwood leadership because affordability fosters accessibility, but delivering a high-quality education grows more expensive each year.”

The college saw enrollment surge as the economy faltered in recent years, but as those students graduate and Iowa produces fewer high school graduates, the attendance is slipping.

Next year, a 5 percent dip in enrollment is projected, and an overall student body of 14,500.

While the tuition increase exceeds the 2.1 percent inflation rate forecast for higher education, Kirkwood remains one of the least expensive community colleges in the state.

Only Des Moines Area Community College and Eastern Iowa Community College charge lower tuition, and Kirkwood officials say when factoring in mandatory fees, Kirkwood has the lowest price tag.

The $5 per credit hour increase will raise tuition from $140 to $145 for in state students next school year. Trustees set tuition during a board meeting last week.

Under the new rate, a student would pay $8,990 in tuition for a full two-year, 62 credit program, up from $8,680.

Out of state and international student tuition will see the same percentage increase, according to Kirkwood. The new rates would be $176 per credit hour for out of state students and $290 for international students.

Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich told trustees last Thursday that state appropriations have not kept up with costs, and tuition is shouldering more and more of the overall budget at Kirkwood, he said.

In 1970, tuition made up about 20 percent of the budget compared to 45 percent covered by state aid. But, that's flipped. Now, tuition covers 64 percent of the budget, compared to 28 percent from state aid.

Property taxes pay for 3 percent of the budget, and the remaining 10 percent are from grants and others sources, Starcevich said.

'The legislature hasn't lived up to its promise,” Starcevich told the trustees.

Still, the legislature did increase funding for community colleges by $8 million, The Gazette reported in March, and that is on top of supplemental aid of $16 million for community colleges in December of 2013.

However, tuition was only expected to cover only 25 percent of costs, Fisher said

Regardless, Kirkwood may see some changes ahead to stabilize the budget, Starcevich said.

In the immediate future, Starcevich said the college will address budget shortfalls through attrition, including not filling positions when people retire. In the next few years 'we will need to take an aggressive look” at offerings, he said.

'We have 134 programs,” Starcevich said. 'We will need to take a look at those.”

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