The Blue Mountain Community College Board of Education approved a $2 per credit tuition increase for in-state students for the 2020-21 academic year during its virtual regular monthly meeting Wednesday night.
The board did not increase tuition for the 2019-20 academic year in an effort to ease the financial burden on students. However, college officials say that as BMCC faces a significant budget shortfall over the next year – an initial $2.8 million estimate has now increased to more than $3 million due to COVID-19 impacts on the College – the board recognized it couldn’t go another year without a tuition increase.
President Dennis Bailey-Fougnier recommended the $2 per credit increase to the board, which also discussed its desire to give students a modest, but predictable, tuition outlook for future years. The new increase pushes tuition to $110 per credit – and also approved “the intent to adopt the same rate of increase in the 2021-22 and 2022-23” academic years.
“Our intent is to provide consistency for our students so they can plan,” said Heidi Van Kirk, chair of the Board of Education.
The board’s approval also increased out-of-state tuition by $3 per credit ($165 per credit) and international student tuition by $6 per credit ($330 per credit), with the intent to adopt the same increases in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Oregon community colleges have agreements with Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and California to provide in-state tuition to students coming from those states. BMCC has very few students who do not qualify for in-state tuition.
The new tuition rates will go into effect July 1, 2020.
