Will Yavapai Community College ever seriously explore this possibility?

Rhode Island has become the fourth state in the United States to make community college tuition and fees free. The tuition and fee waiver applies to all students regardless of income.

Rhode Island follows New York, Oregon, and Tennessee in making tuition and fees free at the community college level.

Typically, Yavapai Community College has increased tuition in some form every year for the past 10 years. It currently collects around $10 million a year in tuition. Is it possible, given the current excess revenue that is used to build parking lots, tennis courts, and buildings, to make tuition free for Yavapai residents and their children or at least reduced by many dollars at the College?  Will the College and the Governing Board seriously study and discuss this issue?

 Increase well above inflationary rate: McCasland “no,” Harris “yes”

The request from the Yavapai community college administration to increase tuition for the 2017-18 academic year by 5% went sailing through the governing board on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 by a 4-1 vote. Deb McCasland, who represents about one-half of the Verde Valley, voted “no.” Connie Harris, the newly appointed representative from the Verde Valley District #3 fell in line with the County’s west-side majority and voted “yes.” The vote by Harris was the first time in four years that the District #3 representative voted to approve the tuition increase.  Ms. Harris did not utter a word during the discussion on the issue of increasing tuition.

Representative Deb McCasland was the only member of the Board who put hard questions to the College during its presentation. The College said it had to increase tuition because it didn’t want to increase the property tax rate.  It also blamed the reduction in state aid that occurred about six years ago to justify the increase.

The vote was predicted by the blog earlier this past week. The community college administration has increased tuition every year in some form for more than a decade. Also as predicted by the Blog, there was no information regarding the actual need for such an increase.  In other works, neither the budget nor anticipated expenses were discussed.  Furthermore, there was no discussion about cutting back on the huge building/remodeling spree that continues in the District.

Tuition will always be increased under this approach because there is never a showing by the College of the actual new expenses that must be covered by an increase.  The expenses are discussed from two to three months later.

The following  video contains the nine-minute Board “discussion”  about increasing tuition. (Apology for word “stater” rather than “state” in early slide.)

Governing Board to determine increase on Valentine’s Day; tuition increased in some form every year for the past decade (Where is the student voice on tuition?)

Commentary Bob Oliphant

It appears that the Yavapai Community College is on its way to deliver a “Valentine’s day gift” to students wrapped up as a 5% tuition increase. This increase will likely occur at the District Governing Board meeting Tuesday, February 14 in Prescott. The “gift” will be swathed in hyper-technical rhetoric considered the “black art” of accounting and unhelpful comparisons between tuition charged at the community college and that charged at four-year universities and other community colleges. Absent will be sparse serious in-depth Governing Board analysis of spending priorities, excess revenue from 2015-16, reducing its wild capital building spree, the financial impact of losing 6,000 students by headcount in ten years, the alleged veteran aeronautics tuition/fee scam, or a consideration of areas where real savings could be achieved.  

Relevant to any requested tuition increase is the fact that last month the College disclosed in writing that in fiscal year 2015-16 it didn’t use about $10 million in revenue. Of that amount, $8 million was apparently provided by taxes and tuition. Because it didn’t spend the budgeted $10 million, the College asked and received Governing Board approval to retroactively modify the 2015-16 budget.

According to the College’s January report, it received $44 million in taxes and tuition revenue in 2015-16 for use in the general fund that pays for education. However, it didn’t spend $4 million of the revenue. In its plant fund, the College said it intended to use $12.8 million of the taxes and tuition it collected on parking lots and buildings. However, it reported it used only $8.4 million. 

To a taxpayer, this ostensibly looks like there is over $8 million in revenue that should be available for use in a 2017-18 budget. Why then ask for a tuition increase?

The College’s Valentine’s day greeting card to students for 2017 should read something like this: “We’re bursting with happiness that we can now fill, our overflowing vaults, with 5% more from your personal till.”

Bob Oliphant

Corporate model says sales down, alarm bells ringing and College continues down a road of  “free spending” –this makes no sense

Al Filardo, 3rd District Representative

At the March 1, 2016 Board meeting, Third District Representative Al Filardo used a typical corporate business model when questioning the administration about whether the five percent tuition increase being sought was justified.  He questioned whether a tuition increase should be considered in isolation from the expense budget for the coming year, which to most people makes a whole lot or sense.  (But not the College.)

Filardo explained that he had no matrix to apply to the requested increase.  By that he meant that there are no set goals for the President to increase enrollment or accurately assess student satisfaction.  Moreover, the Board had yet to consider expenses and where they might be cut.

Mr. Filardo also said that he was not an enemy of the faculty when it comes to such things as a salary increase; he was simply trying to find a way to justify the tuition increase to the residents of the County. But he observed that from a corporate perspective, when sales are down, you must ask whether such increasing employee salaries is justified. 

Filardo was joined in his criticism of the request by Ms. Deb McCasland.  The vote was 3-2 to increase tuition by five percent.  The three member West side majority voted together to approve the increase.  Mr. Filardo and Ms. McCasland, representing the entire Verde Valley, voted “no.” 

A portion of Mr. Filardo’s inquiry can be seen in a short two-minute clip by clicking here.

Placing bricks and mortar above education, West County representatives unite to pass another tuition increase to keep building blitz going

On March 1, 2016 the three-member voting block from the West side of Yavapai County voted to once again increase student tuition.  The increase is necessary if the College is to continue its building blitz on the West side of the County, which takes up $8 million or more on average a year. The increase will be around $4 per credit hour.

Representatives Al Filardo and Deb McCasland, representing Verde Valley interests, voted against the proposal.  Ms. McCasland argued there were many opportunities for the College to find ways to cut expenditures.  Mr. Filardo questioned the efficacy of increasing tuition to pay for such things as increased salaries when enrollment was continuing to fall.

The College has increased tuition in some form every year for the past ten years—even during all of the recession.  The College almost never talks about the fact that it has put in place a three-tier tuition fee structure; rather, it hypes a claim that student fees are $75 per credit hour per semester.  Almost half of the enrolled students pay much higher fees—although the College has not released the exact percentage for obvious reasons.  Tier 2 students pay $86 per credit hour; tier three students pay $96 per credit hour.  Furthermore, there are a number of so-called “market tuition based” courses that charge from $105 to $161 per hour.  Finally, some aviation courses charge as much as $662 an hour. Click here to see the 2016 in-state fee schedule.

No students spoke for or against the proposed increase.

$7 Million dollar loss of state aid triggers tuition increase

Pima Community College will increase tuition by $5 per credit hour for in-state students next school year. Base tuition will go from $70.50 to $75.50 per credit-hour for the 2015-16 school year. This is a 7 percent increase.

Nonresident tuition was increased by $23 a credit hour from $329 to $352.
Like Yavapai Community College, Pima has a tiered credit system. It charges more than the base rate for certain classes. Thus, courses listed as differential “A” courses at Pima Community College charge $85 a credit. These courses include Aviation Technology (AVM); Dental Assisting Education (DAE); Fashion Design (FDC); Fitness and Sports (FSS); Interior Design (IDE); Law Enforcement Academy (LEA); Machine Tool Technology (MAC); Massage Therapy (TMA); Med Lab Tech (MLT); Music Studio Instruction (MUP); Respiratory Therapy (RTH); Travel Industry Operations (TVL); Veterinary Technology (VET); Welding (WLD).

Tuition for courses in Clinical Research (CRC); Dental Hygiene (DHE); Dental Lab Technology (DLT); Nursing (NRS); Radiologic Technology (RAD); Technology (TEC); Truck Driver (TDT) cost $91.50 per credit hour.

Pima Community College lost about $7 million in state aid in the coming school year under the state’s new budget plan, according to Sylvia Lee, president of the Governing Board. The college received about $7.7 million in state aid this academic year. Yavapai Community College did not receive a reduction in state aid.

Maricopa County Community College District will not raise tuition or property taxes

The Maricopa County Community College District will not raise tuition and property taxes, even though a new state budget  eliminates virtually all state funding for the district’s 10 community colleges. But hiring more full-time faculty may be put on hold.  

Tuition money needed to keep $111 million dollar Master Plan construction on-track on West side of County gets West side Governing Board support

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board voted 3-2 to increase tuition next year by four percent. Without the increase, the College might have to cut out $400,000 of its $111 million dollar Master Plan construction plans. (No student voices were heard at the Governing meeting.) It also intends to raise dormitory rates by about 3 percent.

Voting against the tuition increase was East County Representative Al Filardo, who was not convinced the College had made a proper supporting case for it. Also voting against the increase was second district East/West County representative Deb McCasland. Ms. McCasland was concerned about the impact on students and the massive expenditures going out of the General Fund for the Master Plan. The General Fund revenue comes from County taxpayer property taxes and student tuition.

Two factors driving Administrators to push tuition higher are the need to finance the $111 million dollar Master Plan and their five-year failure to increase enrollment. Over 90% of the Master Plan is going to develop the College on the West side of the County.

In January, 2015 the Administration reported that tuition and fees would be $150,000 under budget for the fiscal year because of “lower than projected enrollments.” The College estimated in January, 2015 that it would take in only $11,717,000.00 in tuition and fees along with about $44 million in tax revenue.

A year ago in-state student tuition for 2014-15 was increased by the Governing Board on recommendation of the Administration as follows:

• Tier 1: +$2 from $70 to $72
• Tier 2: +$5 from $78 to $83
• Tier 3: +$5 from $87 to $92
• $360k increase (3.2%).

The total increase for 2015-16 will be 4%.

Tier 1: + $3 from $72 to $75 (4.2%)
Tier 2: +3 from $83 to $86 (3.6%)
Tier 3: +3 from $92 to $96 (4.3%).

In addition, several new and existing courses will have tuition set at what the College describes as “market rates.”

Long-time West County Board members Ray Sigafoos and Pat McCarver led the fight for higher tuition.  They have voted to increase student tuition for the past several years. Newcomer Steve Irwin, who represents Prescott Valley, voted for the first time to increase tuition.

In 2004/05 the per hour tuition was $38. It has been increased every year since then. Click on the following to read the details of the tuition increase.  Tuition and Fees _ FY 15-16_r1