During the April 12 Board of Directors meeting, the Central Oregon Community College Board approved a 4.68% increase in the per credit cost at COCC. In-district rates will increase by $5 to $118 per credit for the upcoming 2023-2024 fiscal year. Student fees will remain unchanged.
The upcoming tuition increase will result in full time in-district students paying $180 more per year. The increase will have an estimated $597,000 impact on the budget. The college will use these funds to increase staff salaries, update antiquated facilities and fund other student support services.
In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, COCC was the fifth most affordable Oregon community college in terms of fees and tuition for in-district students. The COCC Foundation awarded a total of $1.8 million in scholarships to students, the most of any Oregon community college. This year, at least one Oregon school made no changes to their tuition while Oregon’s most expensive community college, Linn Benton Community College, raised their tuition by about 6%.
“Nobody likes to raise tuition,” COCC President Laurie Chesley said during the meeting. “This is a number we felt was reasonable given the circumstances.”
Chesley said the raise in tuition is a necessary move to maintain COCC’s infrastructure and financial flexibility. The college also seeks to keep tuition increases stable from year to year. Last year, the board approved a tuition increase of $4 or approximately 3%. Chesley said the tuition changes are made “in a way that does not overburden one year’s students over another.”
Last year’s tuition increase of 3% did not match the inflation rate of 8.5% in the relevant time period. Chesley said this latest tuition increase does not match inflation either.
Axel Hovorka
Editor
