Harper tuition to rise, starting this summer
Last April, when unemployment was still on the rise and salaries were on the decline, Harper College trustees unanimously voted to freeze tuition to help students stay in school.
No such luck this year.
Citing the Illinois budget crisis, the board voted 5-2 Thursday to raise tuition from $90 to $98.50 per credit hour beginning this summer.
Harper officials say they've been told by the state to expect just half of their appropriated $6.7 million annually in both 2010 and 2011.
"At the end of the day you have to balance the budget," Harper President Ken Ender said. "I'm certainly not cavalier about this, and I think we've done a really good job of having a pricing structure that provides access to students."
It's a similar story at each of the state's 39 community colleges, which stand to lose about $148 million in funding this year despite an overall 10 percent to 12 percent spike in student enrollment. Harper's full-time equivalency enrollment is up more than 10 percent from last spring.
Harper's tuition hike makes up for last year's decision to keep rates flat. For several years before that the board raised tuition $4-$6 each year.
Even the Harper Student Senate voted 8-1 to support the tuition hike after discussions with Ender, who last month approached the group to plead his case, said Senate President Carl Evans.
Ender said Harper could have increased tuition up to $17 per credit hour under statutory guidelines. He said administrators gave serious consideration to an $11 increase coupled with cost-cutting measures that included a hiring freeze and limiting paper copies, Ender said. In the end, officials felt $8.50 left the college with a deficit they could manage.
Evans said the Student Senate made clear its hesitation and told Ender that input from the student body was not positive.
"We have a first-class system here and we're supporting this reduced tuition increase with the expectation that Dr. Ender will find other avenues to alleviate the financial burden unmet by the state," Evans said. "We want to protect the staff, faculty and services so vital to our experience on campus."
Trustees Carlos Borro and Bill Graft were the dissenters. Graft, of South Barrington, said that while he would have supported a modest increase, the college saw the "state's insolvency" coming and should have planned better by cutting more expenses.
"Many families and businesses in our district are really hurting and we owe it to them to further tighten our belts," Graft said.
He said the student per capita contribution to Harper's revenue typically falls between 19 and 22 percent. Now, that contribution is up to 22.9 percent. The college's guideline is to keep it under 25 percent.
Since the tuition increase will cover only about $2.5 million of the projected $3.4 million in state cuts, Harper officials have also delayed filling vacant positions, cut department budgets and reduced utility usage and other operating costs.
As for financial aid, officials said the increases will be covered for eligible students under the federal Pell Grant Program and the state's Monetary Award Program. Last year, nearly 6,600 Harper students qualified for financial aid totaling $17.2 million.