10% tuition hike approved

The cost of learning at North Lake College will increase in the spring.

During a monthly meeting earlier this fall, the districts Board of Trustees, a group of seven elected officials who make decisions that affect the entire district, approved a tuition increase for the spring 2005 semester.

Loss of funding by the state is one of the reasons for the increase, said Herlinda Glasscock, North Lake College’s president. She said many students don’t realize that much of their tuition is paid by a combination of funding from the state of Texas and local taxes.

“Part of the challenge is to keep tuition as low as we can while providing the best quality of education possible,” she added.

Ann Hatch, DCCCD’s director of media relations, said the increase is going to be a 10 percent increase for in-district students and a 20 percent increase for all other students.

In-district tuition will be increased by $3 per credit hour. Out-of-district students will pay an additional $10 per credit hour, while out-of-state or out-of-country students will pay $16 more per credit hour.

Glasscock said, “I still think the Dallas County community colleges have the best tuition rate around.” She also thinks that in spite of the increase, that North Lake College and other DCCCD colleges will still see an increase in enrollment.

Mary Ciminelli, North Lake College’s executive dean of student enrollment, said the tuition increase should not adversely affect financial aid students, as their financial aid is calculated by the state and is based, in part, by how much tuition is. She said that financial aid students might end up receiving more money with an increase in tuition.

The tuition increase is expected to generate $2.5 million in revenues for the district, said Hatch.