Harper College increases tuition and fees 4.3 percent
Harper College students will pay 4.3 percent more in tuition and fees beginning this summer after the school's board Wednesday hiked rates for the upcoming academic year.
Students who live within the Palatine-based community college district will pay $148.75 per credit hour starting in the summer semester. That's $6.25 per credit hour more than what they're paying now - the combination of the $4.75 per credit hour tuition increase approved by the board Wednesday and the $1.50 per credit hour universal fee increase approved by the board a year ago.
Students who live outside Harper's district would pay $405.75 per credit hour.
Harper is among the first of area community colleges to set tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year, as a number of schools typically do so in February and March. McHenry County College's board is set to vote Thursday on a proposed $3 per credit hour increase to $124 per credit hour.
Ron Ally, Harper's executive vice president of finance and administrative services, said the higher rates were necessitated by increased costs, including salary and benefits. And while a state budget is in place and Harper continues to receive funding from Springfield, the college is preparing for any possible pension cost shift that would also affect its budget, Ally said.
Harper's board voted 6-0 to approve the higher tuition and fees, and student Trustee Niki Safakas cast an advisory "yes" vote. She said Harper's student government association supported the increase, though it was a split vote of that board.
"There's a lot of student concern that college is already expensive," Safakas said. "And most college students are paying by themselves."
Despite the increase, college President Ken Ender said Harper was still one of the "best values" in higher education in the area since its tuition is a quarter of what a student would pay at the University of Illinois.