COCC Students Facing Another Tuition Hike

Tuition is going up again at Central Oregon Community College starting this summer — something that’s becoming fairly routine after four straight years of increases.

The COCC board has approved a $6 per-credit-hour increase for students within the college’s district, which brings the total to $82.

They also approved at $2 per credit hour raise to the technology fee.

The average student taking 15 credits a term for the year will see an increase of about $360.

COCC is opening two new buildings this fall, for science and health programs. Now they’re raising tuition to help pay for it all.

Officials with the college say they need to find a way to cope with the growing student population.

“With this additional (money), we’ll be able to hire more faculty, more staff.” said COCC spokesman Ron Paradis. “We’ll be able to take care of the record enrollment growth that we’ve seen over the last few years.”

COCC says the money they receive from the state and property taxes has been flat over the last few years, so a hike in tuition was the way they had to go.

“Tuition, unfortunately, is the only area where we can control the income,” said Paradis. “So to raise tuition is what the board or the college wants to do — it’s important, if we expect to serve those students better.”

Despite the rising tuition, COCC officials say they are still one of the cheapest community colleges in the state.

Reaction to the news has been mixed on campus.

“It’s a good life choice, you know, to go to school,” said Tiffany Albers, “So the extra $400 — it’s definitely a cut to the pocketbook, but it wouldn’t sway me.”

“One of the reasons people do stay local and do go to a community college is so that they don’t have to pay as much, so they can get a good education at a lower cost,” said Caleb Bratton.

Students told NewsChannel 21 they understand the increase, but fear it could affect those who are on financial aid later on down the road.