• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Community and Technical Colleges Raise in-State Tuition 11 Percent

Posted on: Friday, 10 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Art Jester, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

Mar. 10--VERSAILLES -- In-state students will pay 11 percent more to attend Kentucky's community and technical colleges in the fall.

Tuition per credit hour for in-state students will go up from $98 this academic year to $109 in 2006-07.

The higher rate will affect most students in KCTCS, which has 81,082 Kentucky students out of a total enrollment of 84,931 this year.

Under reciprocal agreements with five states, KCTCS also charges in-state tuition at some of its community and technical colleges for students from some counties in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee and West Virginia. There are 2,219 such students enrolled this academic year.

The Kentucky Community and Technical College Board of Regents approved the increase this morning while meeting at the system's headquarters in Versailles.

There will be bigger increases for two categories of out-of-state students not covered by reciprocal agreements with KCTCS:

-- Out-of-state students from counties contiguous to Kentucky will pay $131 a credit hour in 2006-07, up from the current $118.

-- All other out-of-state students will pay $327 a credit hour next academic year, in contrast with $294 this year.

The average KCTCS student takes 12 or 13 credit hours, said Ken Walker, the system's vice president for finance.

The only dissenting vote on the tuition increase was cast by Joseph B. Wise III of Louisville.

"These double-digit increases have to stop," Wise said, referring to increases expected or already approved at several of Kentucky's state universities for 2006-07.

Wise said he voted no to "send a message to our legislators" that they need to appropriate more money for the state's postsecondary education system.

Christine Buckner, a student regent from Gateway Community and Technical College in Northern Kentucky, agreed with Wise, saying, "Somewhere, it has got to stop."

Students see tuition increases paying for raises for faculty and staff, Buckner said, but some students are questioning whether the tuition increases are improving the value of what they are receiving in the classrooms.

KCTCS in-state students experienced a 6.5 percent tuition increase for 2005-06.

Reach Art Jester at (859) 231-3489; 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3489; or ajester@herald-leader.com [mailto:ajester@herald-leader.com].

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)

More News in this Category