ECC should change tuition policy for seniors

I am a senior citizen caught in the tuition waiver change instituted by Doctor David Sam, president of Elgin Community College and ECC's board. While they decided to take the hardline stance about these waivers, they may have overlooked several options to ease the burden on senior citizens affected by ECC's actions and the inaction of this state's legislature.

According to ECC, there are 314 seniors enrolled in the school and of those, 94 are affected by this policy change, this is out of a student body of 9,821. Instead of laying the burden of these cost-cutting measures on a small group, less than 1 percent, we could spread this burden across the entire school.

Here are ways to accomplish these goals.

The first is to increase the tuition from $125 to $130 a total increase of just over 8 percent and everyone pays.

The second is to decrease tuition reimbursement for those students who are children of employees. Finally, let us rethink the tuition waiver policy that ECC adopted and bring it into line with other community colleges in the area.

Of the 10 colleges in the Chicago suburbs, Elgin Community College has the harshest policies concerning senior citizen waivers. Other colleges require you to be 65 and older and a few less than 65 to receive the waiver.

In all cases, the seniors receive a waiver of a least half of their tuition without showing financial need. In some cases, the full tuition is waived, and in others, a full waiver is granted based on financial need but all seniors receive the half tuition or better waiver.

Only ECC invokes the full weight of the Illinois Senior Citizens Courses Act in an attempt to raise money.

Edward Dolik

Arlington Heights